Feathers
by Tsubasa Falls
Summary: The group travels to a new world and finds a mysterious woman with ties to Yuuko, and a country unbalanced.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys. This is a co-op story I wrote with the author Kanathia. She's super talented and a couple of stories on her own account and I had non so she said I could put this up on my account instead. **

**This is her profile link if you want to stop by and see what else she's written.**

u/1608195/Kanathia

Title: **Feathers**  
Category: Anime/Manga » Tsubasa Chronicle  
Author: Kanathia  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy  
Published: 01-13-12, Updated: 04-25-12  
Chapters: 13, Words: 37,620

Status:Complete

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**Chapter 1: Prologue**

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**Kanathia: A co-op story.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Hey guys! Welcome to my first fic EVER! NO, NO don't click away yet! T^T**

**It was co-written so a lot of my sloppy grammar and such were edited for me. :D for free too**

**Kanathia: Meh…someone had to do it. Your grammar is atrocious.**

**Tsubasa Falls: That was mean. T^T Anyway, there are OC's and they will play a role in the development of the story line, like good characters should lol. However, we have made the solemn vow that we will make the OC's behave like normal humans and not adopt super human abilities no matter how much we love them. : )**

**Kanathia: Indeed. Well without further ado here's chapter 1. Though really it's more of a prologue.**

Syaoran glanced over at the sleeping form of Sakura. He once again felt guilt encompass him when he thought back to his encounter with his clone and how he had failed to stop it, no him, from leaving. Although Sakura had told him time and again that it wasn't his fault he knew that his presence put the girl on edge. He gripped the edge of the bed and frowned.

"Good morning Syaoran!" a cheerful Mokona says startling him out of his reverie.

"Oh, good morning Mokona." He replied politely. He had observed his clone's encounters with all the members of this group but was still unsure where he stood with them. Mokona seemed to accept him immediately, though Syaoran chalked that up to the small thing not having an ounce of spite in him.

"Oh so you're awake?" a smiling Fai said coming through the door. "Kuro-puppy and I went to the market to get some supplies since we don't know where we'll be going next and this place seems to have an over abundance."

"I told you to stop it with those ridiculous names!" Kurogane said pushing through the door looking peeved as usual. "Hey pork-bun are we ready to leave this world yet?"

Mokona's ears moved giving him a look as though he were in deep thought. "Almost ready!" Mokona said happily leaping onto Syaoran's shoulder.

Kurogane dropped the bags he was carrying onto the table and plopped down into one of the few chairs in the room. Syaoran stood stretching at about the same time that a groggy Sakura opened her eyes. "Ah, good morning Sakura-chan!" Fai said enthusiastically offering her an apple. "How are you this morning?"

She accepted the food graciously. "I'm fine."

Mokona bounced up and down excitedly as Fai shoved some of the 'supplies' into a big travelling bag. "Mokona Modoki ready to go!" Mokona announced giving them no time for preparation as usual.

They were enveloped in the bright swirling colors and watched the world disappear around them.

Xxxxxxx

**Tsubasa Falls: I know it's short! Don't be sad! I've already given the next chapter to Kanathia. She's editing it and should have it up by tomorrow! Right Kana?**

**Kanathia: Sure, sure. It just needs some fine tuning.**

**Tsubasa Falls: I'm letting Kana post this on her account so that the time between editing and updates is smaller and so that you awesome people will go and read her other story. It's WAAAAY more amazing than this one because I didn't help write it.**

**Kanathia: …**

**Tsuabasa: I have the strangest feeling I've upset her. Well anyway, chapter tomorrow, check out the other story and REVIEW! PLEASE! Thank you!**

**Kanathia: 'til next time.**

**~Kanathia & Tsubasa Falls**


	2. Chapter 2

**2: Chapter 1**

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**Tsubasa Falls: So here's that second chapter! Yaaay! Progress!**

**Kanathia: Indeed.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Here they'll learn about the world and stuff. Yep.**

**Kanathia: You probably shouldn't explain what they're about to read.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Oh right…**

**Kanathia: Since I forgot to put the Disclaimer in the first chapter (although it should be obvious) here you go. Tsubasa Falls nor I own anything relating to Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles or XXXholic.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Enjoy!**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxx**

The light deposited the group in yet another strange area. Impeccably clean brown carpet coated the floor. Pictures, some hand drawn and others that looked like calligraphy of some sort, were scattered tastefully on the wall. White walls made up much of the room and connected it to a short narrow hallway that ended with a door which was, at the moment, closed. Two more doors stood on the right hand side of the hallway both closed as well.

Beside them was a wall of shifting plates that moved gently from some unseen breeze. Behind the plates were two floor to ceiling length glass windows that, notably, seemed able to open. The only furniture in the room was a lime green book shelf, a small desk, a dresser, and a bed, or at least that's what they thought it was, it was unlike any that had seen before.

"Where the hell are we now?" Kurogane said gazing at the strange surroundings.

"I think we're in someone's bedroom." Syaoran said pointing at the small strange bed.

"Pork-bun did you teleport us inside someone's home?" Kurogane asked staring at the small white fluff ball incredulously.

"Mokona can't control where he teleports. It's random." Mokona supplied happily.

"Mokona, do you sense any feathers?" Syaoran said staring at one of the pictures.

"Well…" Mokona said looking somewhat serious. "Mokona kind of senses one."

"What do you mean 'kind of'?" Kurogane said angrily.

"Mokona can sense it, but Mokona can't tell where it's coming from." Mokona offered happily.

"Nothing new there." Fai laughed smiling."Perhaps we should hightail it out of here."

His statement proved a bit too late as the door at the end of the hall had already begun to open. Syaoran felt himself tense, unsure if who was opening that door would be friend or foe. Fai laid a hand on his shoulder and motioned for him to look at the now revealed form of a young girl. From what Syaoran could tell she looked younger than him, maybe fifteen or sixteen, and she was staring at the group with wide eyes. Beyond her Syaoran could make out a room similar to the one they were standing in behind her.

His eyes slid down her to her hand which was securely gripping a knife. He tensed again. The surprise leaked from her face to be replaced with a cold calculating stare that never seemed to settle on anything in particular. "Who are you?" she said an accent marking her words. "What are you doing here?"

Accents were something that the group hadn't picked up on in a while. Since Mokona had the ability to make any language translate smoothly into another generally it didn't make the words sound strange or forced like her speech did. "Well you see," Fai started taking a step forward.

The girl took a step back and raised the knife in front of her as a clear warning. "I'm sure you can explain yourself from right there." She said glaring daggers in Fai's direction.

"We…er…we don't mean you any harm." He tried to assure her while staying firmly in place.

The girl scoffed. "That would be easier to believe if you weren't standing in my bedroom."

"He's telling the truth!" an over excited Mokona added jumping onto Fai's head.

Syaoran half expected the girl to faint from fright or surprise, but instead she just stood there stoically and some of the tension leaked from her. A loud bang issued from somewhere off to the side of the girl and suddenly there was another girl, slightly older looking who smashed into the first. "Kana!" the new arrival yelled not even taking notice that she had nearly impaled herself on the first girl's knife. "I just got news from…" she trailed off noticing at last the group standing in the bedroom.

She glanced back and forth from the group to the first girl and slowly a sly smile spread over her face. "You sly dog, you." The second girl said mockingly punching the first in the arm.

With a strange mix of dexterity and anger the first girl moved the knife away from her friend's torso and moved to walk past her. "Take care of them would you?" the first said disappearing from the group's sight as she moved beyond a wall.

The second scratched her head for second obviously confused by her friend's reaction. She turned to the strange people standing in the room and a sense of understanding seemed to wash across her face. She grinned. "Let's see." She said stepping into the room with the confused guests. "You must be Sakura. You're the only girl so that's easy." The girl said surveying the four. "You must be Syaoran."

"How do you know our names?" Syaoran piped up more than a little suspicious.

"I suppose that means I'm right." The girl said grinning. "Why don't we go to the dining room? I'll explain there. If I don't get you out of her room soon Kana will probably blow a fuse."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The dining room was small but there were plenty of chairs seated around the table. A bright sunflower themed tablecloth graced the wooden table. Kurogane plopped down into one of the chairs by the wall where he had a clear view of all the doors in the room.

The girl sat near the center the smile never leaving her face as she watched them.

Kurogane huffed indignantly. "So?" he said clearly annoyed. "Get to it."

The girl laughed. "She did say that you were a hard one to handle. You must be Kurogane."

"It seems you have us at a disadvantage." Fai finally piped up. "You know our names, but we know nothing about you."

"Isn't it obvious?" Kurogane cut in as the girl opened her mouth. "The girl said 'she'. It has to be that witch again right?"

The girl gave him a thumbs-up. "Correct, Kurogane!" she said enthused.

"Yuuko?" Mokona said jumping onto the table. "How is she?"

"She's doing great!" the girl said smiling. "I was talking to her just today as a matter of fact."

"Oh? Does that mean we've returned to her world?" Fai said looking a tad concerned.

"Oh no." the girl said giggling. "Yuuko and I are old friends."

Kurogane gave her a look that obviously said 'you don't look old enough to have "old" friends'. She shrugged.

"Now then I believe introductions are in order. My name is Hanada." She said standing and giving a bit of a bow. "That mopy girl you ran into a few minutes ago is Kana-chan…"

Hanada trailed off as the same knife the group had seen in the girl's hand earlier wedged itself in the table mere inches from her hand. "Errr…I mean…Kanathia…her name is Kanathia." The girl amended looking suddenly very nervous.

The smaller of the two girls came from around the corner she had tossed the knife from and retrieved it. She disappeared back around the corner without a word leaving everyone to stare after her in wonder. Everything about the two seemed to be at odds. Kanathia had dark red hair which was pulled back in a high ponytail and pale skin, not even a freckle marred the smoothness. She was thin, oddly quite and seemed a bit too serious. Hanada on the other hand had darker skin the color of mocha and long brown hair that hung in waves. She was all curves, though not in a bad way. She was loud and completely full of energy.

Hanada concentrated her topaz eyes towards the corner her friend had disappeared behind making sure she wasn't in for another surprise attack by a flying knife. Syaoran examined the girl before him and couldn't help but think the two reminded him a bit of Kurogane and Fai. "So, where exactly are we?" Syaoran asked gaining Hanada's attention once again.

"Ah, right, this is the country of Hoenda. We're the westernmost country of the six great nations. Also, the most peaceful. Honestly you guys are lucky you landed here. I can't help but wonder if maybe Yuuko had something to do with this."

"Nonsense, Hanada. You know as well as I that I can't interfere without a price."

The sound startled everyone in the room but Hanada who pulled a small mirror roughly the size of her hand from her bag. Instead of reflecting the contents of the room surrounding it Yuuko's shop was there with a mysterious Yuuko standing there holding the black Mokona.

"Oh great, the witch." Kurogane muttered.

"I see you've all made it safely to Hoenda. I asked Hanada and Kanathia to take care of you while you are there." Yuuko said watching the group from her side with interest.

"Yuuko." The small voice startled everyone in the room except Kurogane who had watched the girl come in.

"Ah, good evening Kanathia. I'm glad you seem to be doing well."

Kanathia eyes stared levelly with the other woman's for a few moments before hers faltered. "How is everything on your end?" she asked.

The witch smiled. "Fine, I sent Watanuki off to fetch sake. He should be back any minute now."

Kanathia watched the reflective glass, but said nothing else. She had noticed a slight shift in Syaoran had made when Watanuki's name had been mentioned. "Dinner." She muttered before retreating again out of view leaving everyone else in the room with questions like 'why did she come out here'?

"Anyway, a little more advanced warning would have been nice you know." Hanada chided.

Yuuko shrugged. "I did my best. With the differences in time flow they could have arrived a year from now or even hundreds of years in the past. I only wanted you to look out for them if they had arrived during your time."

"And they coincidentally show up the same day you tell me?" Hanada scoffs.

"It was no coincidence." Yuuko says lifting a small cup to her mouth. "It was hitsuzen."

Hanada sighed loudly. How could she have forgotten Yuuko's all time favorite saying? A voice called from behind the image of Yuuko.

"It appears Watanuki has returned. Shall we pick this conversation up at another time?" Yuuko says smiling briefly.

"Sure, sure. Say hi for me." Hanada waved dismissively as the image distorted then vanished. It was replaced by the image of the room around them.

Fai focused his eyes on the corner he had seen the younger girl vanish behind several times now. "Your friend.."

"Kanathia?" Hanada said raising her eyes to his.

Fai nodded. "Kanathia," he complied, "she has a strange accent."

A loud crash from beyond Kanathia's corner sounded. Hanada was out of her seat in less than two seconds followed closely by a worried Sakura.

The other three remained seated afraid they would simply get in the way.

Around the turn Sakura discovered a kitchen. Kanathia was sitting in the middle of a heap of broken glass. "It's nothing." She said starting to pick the glass up with her bare hands. "I just slipped."

Hanada shook her head. She stopped Kanathia halfway to a large piece of the sharp material. Sakura spotted a broom off to the side and grabbed it. She started sweeping determinedly. Kanathia just stared at the other girl. Hanada with a bit of effort forced Kanathia to her feet.

"Come on, you were making dinner right? Let's finish up."

Kanathia shook her head motioning for Hanada to leave. "Right…fine." Hanada pouted just a little but conceded without a fight. Sakura watched the tall brunette leave curiously.

"A-are you okay?" Sakura asked stopping the broom and looking at the other girl.

Kanathia nodded curtly putting on an oven mitt. "I'm fine."

From the oven Kanathia pulled two casserole pans full of something that smelled absolutely delicious. Sakura felt her mouth water as she swept the last of the glass into a small pile. She felt a hand on the broom and glanced up into Kanathia's cold blue eyes. She felt a shudder run through her at the lack of visible emotion.

In two swift moments Kanathia had taken the broom from her hands and gathered all the glass on a dust pan. She threw it into a trash bin next to the wall and washed her hands before returning to the food. Sakura felt her hands flutter uselessly by her sides as she had suddenly been reprieved from her job.

"L-let me help you carry one of those." Sakura offered one hand reaching for the first casserole dish.

Kanathia batted away Sakura's hand as if it were an annoying fly. Sakura her cheeks flush with embarrassment, and was surprised when Kanathia handed her a spare oven mitt. Kanathia grabbed the first casserole dish and walked past Sakura without a word. A small smile leaked onto Sakura's face as she watched the other girl walk out. _So she just didn't want me to burn myself._

She grabbed the second dish and followed Kanathia from the kitchen. All eyes were concentrated on the food that Kanathia had just set in the middle of the table. Sakura could swear she heard the growling of four stomachs. She smiled sweetly as she placed the second dish next to the first.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Tsubasa Falls: No brownie points for guessing who wrote which character. XD**

**Kanathia: ….**

**Tsubasa Falls: Eheheh… ^^; Well, Yuuko finally made her appearance! We plan on making each chapter longer than the previous one so expect an even longer chapter next time.**

**Kanathia: The next chapter should be out before Monday, but if I don't meet that deadline it'll be out next week.**

**Tsubasa Falls: I hope you guys are enjoying it so far!**

**Kanathia: Don't forget to leave a review. 'til next time.**

**~Kanathia &Tsubasa Falls**


	3. Chapter 3

** 3: Chapter 2**

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**Tsubasa Falls: Ah. Chapter 3 out already! We're getting these out quick aren't we Kana?**

**Kanathia: Meh.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Well. That's reassuring. Well. On to the story.**

**XXXXXXxxxxx**

Dinner was amazing. There was plenty to go around, although most of it went to Mokona and Hanada who seemed to have insatiable appetites. After everyone had eaten Kanathia pulled out liquor which raised some curious glances from more than one of the guests.

"Aren't you…a little young to have liquor?" Syaoran asked eying the tall bottle skeptically. Maybe it was full of grape juice or something.

Kanathia's piercing gaze fell on him and he immediately regretted asking the question. Perhaps the legal drinking age was low in this country. "How old do you think she is?" Hanada chimed in. "This is my favorite game."

"Game?" Fai questioned the dark haired woman.

Hanada nodded. "No one ever gets it right. Especially on the first try. Go ahead Syaoran give it a guess."

Syaoran felt like he had opened a subject that was better left unmentioned. "Uh…" he glanced in the direction of the girl in question. She was busying herself with doling out cups of the alcohol. "I'd rather not."

"Come on kid don't be a killjoy!" Hanada laughed.

"Erm…sixteen?" Syaoran finally admitted choosing to go with a slightly higher number.

Hanada made a buzzer sound. "Absolutely wrong!" Hanada grinned.

"Thirteen?"Fai chipped in enjoying the happiness flowing around the room.

Kanathia turned away from the cups she was filling and looked Fai dead in the eye. "I am twenty years old."

Syaoran couldn't help the incredulous look that swept over his face. Looking around at everyone else he noticed they had the same surprise. Well, everyone except Hanada, Kanathia, and Kurogane who had his normal easily uncaring look about him.

"Ah man!" Hanada pouted. "You always give it away too soon."

Kanathia said nothing instead taking a sip from her glass.

"Wanna try to guess my age next?" Hanada said regaining some hope that her game could be continued.

"57." Kurogane piped up from the corner.

"Do I LOOK like an old hag!" Hanada shouted indignantly.

"It's fully possible if that little girl over there is almost the same age as me, isn't it?" he replied still leaning against the wall nonchalantly.

"I'm nineteen I'll have you know." She huffed.

Silence ebbed through the room. Hanada looked around at all of them. "You don't believe me?"

"H-Hanada-san, no one…" Sakura tried to pacify the girl.

"You guys don't believe me!" Hanada yelped out looking for all the world as if she was about to cry. "Kana help me out here."

Kanathia took another sip of her drink before even glancing in Hanada's direction. "You certainly carry on like a child." She said smoothly.

Fai laughed. Sakura tried to comfort the now sobbing Hanada.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The night wore on that way. Everyone except Syaoran drank and one by one fell asleep. Shortly the only ones left awake were Syaoran, Hanada, and Kurogane. "Thank you for allowing us to stay here." Syaoran said resituating a sleeping Mokona on his lap.

Hanada shook her head. "This isn't my house." She said pushing hair off of the face of the sleeping Kanathia who had decided to use her lap as a pillow. "It belongs to Kanathia."

Syaoran gave the sleeping girl a smile but a thought flashed across his mind and he looked at Hanada quickly blurting out, "but she didn't say we could stay."

"Don't worry about it." Hanada said waving away his worries. "If she wasn't going to let you stay she would have kicked your sorry butts to the curb already." She finished her statement with a laugh.

"Well you're certainly mellower when you're drunk." Kurogane threw in from his corner.

Hanada laughed though it sounded half-hearted. "I'm not drunk." She admitted.

"You two certainly do make for a pair of interesting friends." Fai said startling Syaoran who was sitting next to him.

"Oh Fai." Syaoran said trying to look as though he hadn't just jumped two feet off the floor at the sound of Fai's voice. "I thought you were sleeping."

"And miss out on a good conversation? Of course not." The mage laughed blonde hair spilling in front of his face. He turned his eyes to the sleeping Kanathia. "So I had asked you about her accent earlier and you were about to answer before something broke in the kitchen."

Hanada nodded glancing down at Kanathia. "She has been breaking stuff a lot more recently."

Syaoran caught a hint of worry in the girl's voice. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh?" Hanada seemed to slip out of some reverie she was having. "Oh, uh, it's nothing."

She seemed to recall that Fai had asked her something. "Oh…right…her accent." Hanada said brain catching up with her finally. "Well, she'd probably get mad at me for telling you actually."

"Is it a secret?" Fai asked sounding both intrigued and as if he didn't want to intrude at the same time. A hard mix to pull off but somehow he managed.

Hanada shook her head. "Not particularly. She's just always had this 'judge people by their actions not their pasts' sort of outlook on life. So needless to say she doesn't tell many people about her childhood."

Fai and Syaoran nodded understandingly. Kurogane scoffed.

Hanada turned to the samurai looking more than a little pissed. "You have an issue?"

Her sudden hostility shocked them all. Kurogane shrugged. He didn't have any actual issue with the statement. It just seemed a tad naïve to him. Nine times out of ten a person's past shaped their every day actions so ignoring the past seemed like a step in the wrong direction if you wanted to know how someone might act.

Hanada shook her head. "Sorry." She said sounding a bit disappointed in herself. "I get a bit defensive over her. Since she won't defend herself."

Fai giggled remembering when they first saw the girl. "She seemed ready to defend herself this afternoon."

Hanada smiled. "Well that was a bit different." She said acquiesced. "I meant mentally or verbally. She quite capable of the physical aspects despite-"

Hanada seemed to catch herself before she said the next words. She laughed nervously. "There I go trying to give away other people's secrets again."

"Remind me not to tell you anything worth keeping secret." Kurogane said eyes closed.

Hanada pouted puffing out her cheeks. "So mean."

"Don't taunt her Kuro-pi it's mean." Fai said smiling.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THOSE RIDICULOUS NAMES!" Kurogane shouted.

Hanada seemed to catch hidden hint in Fai's actions. _So this is how I can taunt him, huh?_ She thought crossing her arms.

She felt the weight lift from her lap as Kanathia lifted her head. Her head turned in the direction the shout had come from but her eyes didn't seem to focus on Kurogane's now standing form. "Why are you yelling?" she said with just the tiniest touch of drowsiness leaking into her voice.

Kurogane froze and seemed unable to answer so he plopped back down where he had been sitting.

"Hanada." Kanathia said her head tilting to the side a bit. "What time is it?"

"About four thirty." Hanada said leaning back on her arms.

"Shouldn't you be leaving? It's Wednesday that means you have class in three hours."

"I still have all my sick days." Hanada whined throwing herself onto Kanathia's shoulders. Kanathia brushed her off standing and stretching.

"Go to class. Save your sick days in case something happens."

"Stick in the mud." Hanada mumbled.

Syaoran woke up before Sakura again and couldn't help wondering how anyone could sleep so much. He heard banging coming from the kitchen so he decided to go take a look.

Fai was stirring something in a big red mixing bowl and Kanathia was standing to the side chopping something. "Ah, good morning Syaoran!" Fai called enthusiastically.

Syaoran nodded. "Good morning. What are you making?"

Fai looked down at the bowl. "I think Kana-chan called them pancakes." Fain glanced over at the girl for affirmation and she nodded.

When had Kanathia started allowing Fai to call her Kana-chan? Whatever they were making certainly smelled good. Kanathia whipped around spatula in hand and flipped two large circles over that were cooking on what looked to Syaoran like a long slab of metal with a few knobs attached. She lifted the edges of three others that occupied the surface but something about them told her they weren't ready to be flipped.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Syaoran offered.

Kanathia squinted at him as though sizing him up then pulled out an armful of plates and handed them to him. "I wonder how long Kuro-pon will take in there." Fai said setting down the bowl.

Kanathia shrugged. The most Fai had been able to get out of her all morning were instructions on how to make the pancake mix. It wasn't like she was being cold or anything. Any time he had a question she had an answer. The problem was that she would give the answer in as few words as possible.

A few minutes later they heard a loud bang followed by a series of curses. "Sounds like Kuro-pipi is out of the shower." Fai said happily. Syaoran re-entered the kitchen at the same time having finished his task.

Kanathia grabbed a plate from the counter that already had several pancakes on it and began to pile the new ones on top making sure they didn't topple. When she was done she handed the plate to Fai along with a covered plate and handed Syaoran two covered plates to bring to the table. She grabbed the butter, syrup, and three more covered plates balancing one on top of her head as needed.

Syaoran panicked a bit upon seeing the girl who had just last night shattered something in the kitchen carrying a plate in such a manner. He offered to take it and she shook her head causing the plate's cover to clatter around. This did nothing to help Syaoran's anxiety.

Kurogane was seated on the far side of the table once again, scowling. He was wearing what Kanathia had assured him were 'normal' clothes from Hoenda. He didn't look happy to have to discard his clothes. She had also assured him that he needed a shower with the words, 'you stink'. She had then unceremoniously shoved him into one of her two bathrooms and explained to him how to work her shower.

Kurogane watched the girl place several plates down on the table before moving off towards the spot where Sakura was still sleeping. Kanathia gently shook the laying Sakura to rouse her.

"How was your shower Kuro-puppy?" Fai asked moving some of the silverware around so that everyone had a fork and knife.

"Shut up." Kurogane growled.

"Touchy touchy." Fai purred in response as the now awake Sakura and Kanathia joined them at the table. "One might start to think you don't like me if you aren't careful."

"Good morning." Sakura offered wiping sleep from her eyes.

"Good morning Sakura-chan!" Fai offered happily. "Are you ready for some more of Kana-chan's delicious cooking?"

"It looks good!" Mokona said popping up from seemingly nowhere.

Sakura nodded smiling at Kanathia appreciatively. _Sakura certainly has warmed up to her fast._ Syaoran found himself thinking before he could stop himself. Was he jealous?

Kanathia took the seat beside Syaoran and remove the cover from the plate she had sat there. Inside was part of a rolled omelet, and a mix of vegetables. A strange meal for sure, but practical. Instead of veggies on the rest of the plates was yogurt, and a few slices of bacon with their slices of rolled omelet.

The all took two pancakes and started to eat. There was little conversation for the first few minutes. Eventually Fai broke the silence. "So, Kana-chan, what are your plans for today?"

Kanathia set down her fork and looked up at Fai. "I'm going to the vet." She said matter-of-factly.

Kurogane stopped stabbing at his food in a vain attempt to work the fork which he still hadn't mastered. "Vet?" he said eying the girl.

She nodded. It wasn't the most descriptive explanation.

"I think what Kuro-po was trying to ask was what a vet is." Fai said smiling.

"A veterinarian." Kanathia tried to say but the word slurred coming out sounding more like 'vetesldjaskl'. She had never been good at pronouncing this word. Fai gave a sideways glance and she felt her cheeks heating up.

Syaoran stopped eating and interjected on the girl's behalf. "A veterinarian. It's an animal doctor."

Kanathia threw him a look of gratitude as Mokona moved from his plate to Kurogane's in an attempt to get more food.

Fai looked like he wanted to ask 'how did you get that', but thought better of it. "Would you mind if we accompanied you?"

Kanathia tilted her head to the side. "It might be better if you didn't."

It was quiet possibly the longest string of words any of them had heard her say. "Why is that?" Fai asked in obvious confusion.

He watched her eyes drift down as she answered. "It's…complicated."

Fai switched to teasing mode immediately. "Oh? Are you going to see your boyfriend?"

She lifted her head and replied with a deadpan. "No."

Fai blinked.

"It's alright if you don't want us to come Kanathia." Sakura said smiling. "We could always go look around the town instead."

Syaoran nodded. "We need to look for clues to find Sakura's feather."

"Speaking of which," Fai said regaining his normal impassive smile. "Would you happen to know about anything strange that's happened lately? Like someone gaining a power or something?"

Kanathia shook her head slightly. She had already started eating again and was clearly distracted.

"Maybe if we ask around we'll find someone who's heard something." Syaoran said hopefully.

Kanathia shook her head standing and excusing herself from the table. Everyone watched her enter her room without so much as a glance back.

"What's wrong with her?" Kurogane sniffed shoving half a pancake in his mouth.

Mokona jumped up and down excitedly. "Mokona knows! Mokona knows!" he shouted happily.

After a few seconds without explanation Kurogane angrily grabbed Mokona by the ears. "So?"

"It's a se-cret." Mokona said then laughed.

Fai laughed. "Mokona, you're such a tease."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxx

Everyone was dressed in street clothes common to Hoenda within a few minutes. Most of the clothes were typical in style if a bit drab. Kanathia had warned them away from choosing pants. Somehow she had a wide range of clothing stored in her spare bedroom. Syaoran decided he would question the girl about it later. Mokona was currently resting in a bag that was slung from Sakura's shoulder.

The group had gathered in Kanathia's living room which was closest to the front door. It was a large room packed with plush furniture. "So where should we start looking?" Fai said obviously directing the question at Sakura. "Maybe the market, or perhaps there's a library?"

The last statement was aimed at Kanathia who obviously would know the town. Kanathia nodded. "It would be better if you stayed with me." She said face not showing any emotion.

"Why's that?" Syaoran asked curiously.

She shrugged and opened the front door.

They were all hit by a wave of intense heat. It hadn't been until that moment that they realized Kanathia's apartment had been just the right temperature. Now, as they walked out of the door, there was searing heat everywhere. _No wonder she had said not to wear pants_, thought Syaoran. This heat would be worse if his legs were encased in fabric. He was thankful for the shorts he had found, even if they were a bit too loose.

Kurogane and Fai had chosen to wear pants despite Kanathia's warnings. Sakura and Kanathia were wearing short skirts.

Kanathia locked the door behind them and then led them away from the dark stone walls of her house. She paused about halfway to the narrow street. Her head tilted to the right. "I know you're there." She said nonchalantly.

The group behind her stopped too not quite sure what to make of her odd statement until moments later two shapes came hurtling out of the bushes and knocked the small girl over. Syaoran felt the other's tense behind him as he flinched into ready as well. Their efforts were unnecessary though as it became apparent that the people who had jumped out weren't hostile. Syaoran recognized one as the ever-peppy Hanada. The other was a male of about the same age. He also had dark skin like Hanada and sandy brown colored hair.

After laughing, for some reason Syaoran could quite understand, they helped Kanathia back to her feet.

"You're no fun Kana!" Hanada pouted hands on hips.

Kanathia shrugged dusting herself off. Hanada turned in their direction with a smile. "Going out to explore, huh?"

Syaoran nodded.

"Who's this?" the guy said joining Hanada with Kanathia at his side. His eyes roved over the group and landed on the tall Kurogane. "Kana! You're cheating on me!" the man whined clinging to the small girl's shoulders.

The group stared on in confusion. Kanathia pushed the man off easily with one hand. Her face had turned to Hanada and a scowl had settled there. Hanada shrugged. "He wanted to come along. You can't blame me for the guy's infatuation."

The look on Kanathia's face clearly said she did blame Hanada.

"Kana you're so mean!" the guy sobbed. "I've been asking you out for months and then some big guy comes along and you start dating him!"

One of the man's hands was curled up to his mouth and the other was pointing directly at Kurogane.

"Why the hell are you pointing at me!" Kurogane shouted angrily.

The man looked shocked. "Don't tell me it's actually the blonde." The man said in horror eyes moving to Fai.

Syaoran just barely heard Kanathia mutter 'blonde'. He waved his hands to get the guy's attention. "I think you have the wrong idea." He said. "We're just visiting."

The man's eyes trained on Syaoran. "Yeah right! Two guys come out of Kana's house and I'm supposed to think it's just a coincidence?" the guy was going hysterical. It was actually quite comical the way his face switched between different emotions. He was clearly playing up everything trying to make Kanathia feel guilty. "You could never love her like I do!" He thrust a hand into the air. "You would never be able to accept her blindne-"

He didn't get the rest of the word out before Kanathia had hit him over the back of the head sending him crashing to the ground. She looked upset. Syaoran was sure that guy had said 'blind'. That would explain that coldness that always seemed to be in her eyes and she never seemed to focus on anything she was 'looking' at.

Kanathia turned on her heel and started to walk away. Hanada gave a nervous smile as she helped the guy off the ground. Within seconds Kanathia had disappeared from sight. "You idiot." Hanada said releasing the guy's arm. "You know Kana doesn't like broadcasting her disabilities to the world. How long did you have to wait before she even told you?"

The guy looked ashamed. "Sorry, I always get so caught up in the moment." He turned his eyes to the group. "I suppose I owe you guys an apology too. Sorry about that. The name's Creshenth."

Kurogane huffed.

"Hi, I'm Syaoran." Syaoran said offering his hand. "This is Fai, Kurogane, and Sakura."

Creshenth nodded. "Kurogane, huh? I guess with that permanent scowl locked on you face I don't need to worry about you stealing Kana."

"Hanada-san." Syaoran interrupted what was probably a rude reply from Kurogane. "Is Kanathia really blind?"

Hanada sighed. "Yeah." She admitted. "Well mostly anyways. She can still sort of see but for the most part she can't tell a butter knife from and alarm clock."

Syaoran looked at the trees she had disappeared beyond. "Shouldn't we go after her?"

Hanada laughed. "Don't worry about her. The girl may be blind as a bat but she amazingly adept at finding her way around. She'll be fine. Besides I know where she's going."

Syaoran nodded.

Creshenth crossed his arms. "So I assume you guys were going somewhere with her." He said eying the group again.

Fai nodded having been quiet for far longer than was usual for him. "We were going to go look around for clues to find Sakura's feather, but Kana-chan said it would be better if we stuck with her."

Hanada nodded. "Well she was right there." She said as Creshenth mouthed the word 'feather' questioningly.

"Do you mind if I ask why?" Syaoran asked quizzically.

Hanada scratched the side of her head. "Well…it's kind of hard to explain to be honest. Especially to someone who's not from around here."

Creshenth looked slightly uneasy, but he spoke up anyway. "It's not really that hard to explain. It's just sort of embarrassing honestly."

"Embarrassing?" Fai repeated the word with obvious interest.

"Well…I suppose." Hanada agreed. "Where exactly did you guys need to go?"

"The library?" Fai offered. "Or maybe if you have a market we could ask around at."

The group had obviously noticed Hanada's non-too-subtle topic change.

"Creshenth" Hanada turned to her companion. "You wouldn't mind showing them to the library would you? I need to go check on Kana."

Creshenth stuck out his lip pouting. Clearly he'd rather be the one to go to Kanathia's side. "Why do I have to bring them there?"

"Because you owe me for this morning's notes." Hanada said matter-of-factly.

Creshenth cringed. "Fine."

Sakura stepped forward. "Do you mind if I accompany you Miss Hanada?" Sakura asked nervously.

Hanada laughed a little. "Just 'Hanada' is fine Sakura. There's no need for 'miss'. I don't mind if you come, but…" she glanced at Syaoran who looked torn between going with Sakura or looking for her feather with the others.

Fai put a hand on Syaoran's shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sure Hana-chan can take care of Sakura-chan."

Creshenth laughed. " 'Hana-chan' that's hilarious! This giant!"

Hanada hit him over the head muttering 'jerk'. It was true that Hanada was tall. _Perhaps she's sensitive about her height._ Syaoran thought eying her.

"We'll meet up with you guys later." Hanada said wishing the group luck and heading off with Sakura in the same direction Kanathia had disappeared in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sign read 'Holloway Pet Hospital' at some point in time, but it had long since fallen to the ground. The building was in disrepair and half hidden by trees if you tried to find it from the road. It was there that the portal opened.

An iridescent glow lit the shambles of the once proud building giving it an eerie otherworldly glow. The wind picked up just the slightest amount as the traveler who had been using the portal was deposited firmly on his feet.

He stood there for a few seconds gazing at his surroundings. He had only one mission here. Find the feather.

**Tsubasa Falls: So, finally the part I was waiting for. The intro of the mysterious person. (I'm sure most people already figure out who it is though. It's not hard. Promise XD)**

**Kanathia:….**

**Tsubasa Falls: That's not helping! T^T This is why we have communication problems!**

**Kanathia: No, we have communication problems because you constantly change your mind about how you want to lay out the story.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Sorry : ( That is true. Well anyway. Next chapter will be out soon. No more this weekend though because Kana is going to party with her friends while I'm stuck halfway across the country.**

**Kanathia: Not my problem. Thanks for the review and story alerts.**

**Tsuabasa Falls: Yeah we definitely weren't expecting people to leave reviews so soon. It motivated me to write faster though!**

**Kanathia: 'til next time**

**~Kanathia &Tsubasa Falls**


	4. Chapter 4

**4: Chapter 3**

* * *

**Tsubasa Falls: So this Chapter will be a tad shorter than the last mostly because I wanted to end it where I did. Hope you like anyways!**

**Kanathia: I apologize if I missed any mistakes. I'm tired, tipsy, and more than a little hyper, but I wanted to get this out tonight.**

"So where exactly did Miss Kanathia go?" Sakura asked looking at the tree lined road they were walking on. She was curious why they hadn't come across any other people yet.

"Ah she went to my Uncle's house. He runs a veterinary clinic. Her cat has been sick for a while now so she brought him to get examined."

"She has a cat?" Sakura asked curiously. She couldn't quite place Kanathia. The girl was strange to say the least, but she seemed to have a soft side.

"Mhmm. His name is Mystic. He's not very fond of people, but he seems to have taken a liking to Kana."

Sakura nodded. Hanada stopped her in front of a green building with a flat roof. "We're here."

She held the door open for Sakura to enter. Inside cool air rushed to greet them. A long low desk separated the first side of the room from a back area. The smell of animals and antiseptic hung in the air.

"Hanada?"

Both Hanada and Sakura turned to the man's voice. "Ah good morning Uncle." Hanada said smiling.

"Good morning." He said curtly writing something on a notebook. "What are you here for this time?"

"Ah, well, we sort of lost track of Kana. Has she come by yet?"

"She just left."

Sakura looked at the door. They hadn't run into Kanathia on the street.

"Did she say where she was going?"

The old man glanced up finally focusing on the two girls in front of him. "No. Who's this?"

"Ah, a friend of mine. Yuuko asked me to watch out for her."

The man frowned. "You know how your parents feel about Yuuko."

Hanada smiled but her eyes seemed to go dead. "You know how much I don't care about their opinions."

The man smirked.

"Well we're busy. See you later." Hanada said exiting again and almost trampling Sakura on her way out.

Outside Hanada leaned against the wall with a sigh. "Well that was a waste of time."

Sakura smiled. "At least we know she passed by here. That's something."

Hanada returned the smile. "I suppose."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Creshenth lead them through a few deserted streets before they saw any people. When eventually the group ran into civilization they began to wish they hadn't. Everyone stared at the group. It wasn't curious stares that greeted them either. They ranged from fear to contempt. Creshenth twitched awkwardly sometimes when their eyes fell on him.

Syaoran watched the people around him suspiciously. He was ready to defend himself if they tried anything.

"Is this what Kana-chan was talking about?" Fai asked watching the people curiously. He didn't look the slightest bit tense.

Creshenth nodded. He seemed ashamed. "People in this country are extremely xenophobic."

"Zeno what now?" Kurogane said half paying attention.

"Xenophobic." Syaoran repeated for Creshenth. "It means they are afraid of things that come from beyond their own borders. Whether it's people of objects." He looked to Creshenth to make sure that's what the guy had meant. The look in his eyes told Syaoran he had hit the nail on the head.

"Most people here still act like people from other countries are spies or terrorists. It's not safe for anyone who looks different to walk around alone."

Syaoran looked at the masses of people they were passing. They all had dark skin and varying shades of brown hair. Not a single one looked like Kanathia. He and Fai stood out too with their pale complexions. Kurogane might have been able to pass as one of the crowd if he hadn't been walking with them.

"This is the library." Creshenth said stopping in front of a large brick building.

Syaoran felt a bit of joy. He loved books.

They entered.

"You guys can split up but I don't recommend leaving the building without me." Creshenth said eying the door.

Syaoran nodded moving away from the others towards the beckoning books.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kanathia was lost. She pressed a palm against her face. It was sticky and warm. Earlier someone had thrown something at her. It wasn't the first time it had happened. She hadn't reacted fast enough this time though. It had hit her head and she was sure she was bleeding.

She felt dizzy. Mystic meowed from the ground. "It's nothing." She assured the cat.

It sounded forced even to her. She tried to figure out where she was by running her fingers over the nearest objects but so far all she could find were trees. They weren't familiar trees either.

Panic threatened to overwhelm her but logic suppressed it. Panic was useless. It didn't get anything done. She pressed her hand firmly against one of the trees. The dizziness wasn't as easy to fight.

She knew that she was probably getting lightheaded from the blood loss. She forced herself to walk. She wasn't sure if she was doing the right thing. She was caught between waiting for help or trying to find her way back to her house and risking getting even more lost. She had always hated feeling helpless so she pressed on.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Syaoran felt something hit his hip as he skimmed the titles in front of him. He turned to find a young girl who had fallen backward after bumping into him. "Are you alright?" he asked offering her his hand.

She recoiled from it as if it were poisonous. She scampered backwards and then ran off quickly.

Syaoran frowned at the retreating girl.

"Did you find anything?" Fai asked coming around the corner holding a book.

Syaoran shook his head. They had been there for several hours already. "They don't have very many history books, and those that they do have only go up to several hundred years ago. They don't mention anything recent or anything about anyone gaining large amounts of power."

Fai nodded. "I didn't find anything that sounded like the feather either. Although I did find several books that were pretty powerfully against the 'Northern Country of Ishilda'."

"Ishilda?" Syaoran repeated the name. "Is there any reason?"

"It says that the mages from Ishilda went on a rampage here in Hoenda about a century ago and killed a lot of people."

Fai's eyes seemed to momentarily darken while he talked. When he looked up whatever emotion had been there had faded.

"So this world has magic?" Syaoran said grabbing one of the history books he had been skimming earlier. It hadn't let on about anything like magic.

"Sort of." Creshenth said rounding the corner behind Fai. Had he been eavesdropping?

Syaoran flipped to the back of the book. It had mentioned a war between Hoenda and Ishilda.

"What do you mean sort of?" Fai asked curious.

"Most people can't use magic especially here in Hoenda. It's a dead art mostly. Ishilda is the only country that still actively practices magic."

"Why did people stop practicing magic?" Fai looked intrigued. Syaoran couldn't tell if he was genuinely interested or if it was just another one of his fronts.

"A pact was signed several hundred years ago. Most of the magic books were burned from all the countries. It was decided that magic was too powerful for humans."

"Wait," Syaoran interrupted, "If magic was outlawed why is there still an entire nation practicing it?"

Creshenth averted his eyes. He looked embarrassed about what he said next. "Ishilda is the smallest of all the countries, but they have a lot of natural resources and good land. Because of that they were constantly attacked by other nations that wanted that land for themselves. They weren't as strong as the other nations were with pure military efforts so they used magic to defend themselves."

"Hoenda was one of the nations that attacked them isn't it?" Syaoran asked setting down his book.

Creshenth didn't answer, but that act was answer enough.

"You certainly seem to be unbiased for someone who's from Hoenda." Fai said.

Creshenth blushed the slightest bit. "I wasn't always like this. I used to be as bad as the others."

Syaoran watched the guy closely. His demeanor had changed. Almost as if he were feeling guilty about something, and not something from the past.

"Why did you change?" Fai asked seemingly oblivious to Creshenth's suspicious behavior.

"Kanathia, I suppose."

"Kanathia?" Fai repeated confused.

"I'm sure you guys can tell just by looking at her that she's not from around here. She's from Ishilda."

Fai and Syaoran remained silent waiting for Creshenth to continue, but he didn't. He obviously wasn't too proud of something he had done in the past.

"So what should we do?" Sakura asked glancing both ways. Kanathia was nowhere to be seen.

Hanada looked a little worried. "She must be really upset if she left here that quickly. It means she didn't want me to catch up to her."

Sakura glanced up at the girl's face. She wasn't sure what to say to comfort her.

"I suppose we should try going toward town and see if she went that way. If we don't run into her soon though it might be better to wait at her house."

Sakura nodded. It sounded like a good plan to her.

Syaoran and the others gave up on the library after a little longer. It was obvious they weren't going to find anything that would lead them to Sakura's feather. They entered the street and were greeted with glares once again.

"So where should we head now?" Fai asked, directing the question both at Syaoran and Creshenth. Kurogane stood at the back of the group with his usual grumpy demeanor.

"I think it would be best if I took you back to Kanathia's for now." Creshenth offered.

Syaoran didn't want to cut their search short but the looks they were getting from the people around him were nearing murderous. He nodded in consent.

Half-way back to the house they ran into a nervous looking Hanada, and a discernibly worried Sakura.

"Hanada?" Creshenth said running over to the girls. "What's wrong?"

Hanada barely seemed to notice him. She kept glancing around looking for something.

Syaoran joined them soon followed by Fai and Kurogane. "Sakura? What's wrong with Miss Hanada?"

Sakura gave the girl a glance. "We haven't found Miss Kanathia even though we've been looking for her for quite a while."

"She went missing?" Creshenth asked seeming a bit stunned.

"Ah it's horrible!" Hanada said biting her lip. "I have no idea where she could have wandered off to."

"Have you checked back at her house?" Fai offered.

"We were about to head back." Sakura said with a small smile.

Hanada looked like she wanted to keep searching. Syaoran placed a hand comfortingly on Hanada's shoulder. "Why don't we go check her house? If she isn't there we can form a search party and go look for her."

Hanada seemed a bit relieved that someone else was taking charge. She nodded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kanathia stumbled for what felt like the thousandth time. Her hand found no tree this time and she tumbled to the ground as an aching mess. She wasn't sure how long she had been wandering but it felt like forever. She tentatively pushed herself up again and her hand ran across something out of place. Smooth material in the shape of…a shoe? She felt her way up it to the hem of a pant leg. She stopped and raised her face.

"Hello?" she said quietly. She was surprised that she hadn't felt the person's presence.

The owner of the shoe made no reply but the foot moved the slightest bit and the chime of metal on metal split the air.

"She's not here!" Hanada cried after she had thrown open Kanathia's door and searched every room with frightening speed.

"Calm down Hana-chan." Fai said patting her shoulders. "We'll find her."

"Fai is right Hanada, we'll find her." Sakura also said trying to stay in high spirits.

"Have you people even considered that maybe she doesn't want to be found?" Kurogane offered from the corner.

Hanada swung around quickly enough to become a blur. "My Kana would never ever do that!" Hanada said in a rage. "She's the sweetest…person…ever." Hanada broke down in tears as she tried to finish telling Kurogane off.

"Tsk, tsk Kuro-puu you have made her cry." Fai goaded.

"It's not my fault the woman's a basket case." Kurogane retorted watching the crying Hanada.

"Now's not the time to argue." Syaoran interrupted. He had retrieved a map with Creshenth's help and was busy studying its every detail.

"Leave it to Syaoran to get right to work!" Fai said enthusiastically. Mokona bounced up and down on his shoulder in agreement.

Syaoran didn't even spare a glance in Fai's direction. "We'll have everyone split up." He said still examining the paper.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Creshenth disagreed. "You saw how those people in town treated you. Besides you don't really know the area."

"That's true." Syaoran conceded. "However…we'll have to take the chance. Kurogane, Fai, and myself are more than capable of defending ourselves."

"That still doesn't help with your lack of knowledge. If you guys went off on your own we'd more than likely just have more people to find." Creshenth countered again.

"He has a point Syaoran." Fai agreed.

Syaoran nodded. "Well then we'll break into groups of two. Creshenth can go with Kurogane, and Fai can go with Hanada. Sakura-hime and I will stay behind just in case she shows up here."

Everyone but Fai nodded in agreement.

"Moooewer."

The strange sound came from the door. Hanada flew up from where she had been weeping. "Mystic?"

"Meoooower." Came a grumpy reply by the door.

Hanada flung it open with so much force that the others were surprised that it hadn't flown off the hinges. It did, however, smash a particularly expensive looking vase. Standing in the doorway was a fat black cat with haunting green eyes.

"Mystic." Creshenth whispered.

"Am I missing something here?" Kurogane huffed from his designated corner. "Why's everyone so worked up over a cat?"

Said cat took three steps into the room and plopped down staring at Hanada.

"Kana was supposed to be going to the vet today to get Mystic." Sakura reminded Kurogane.

"So if he came back on his own…" Syaoran started.

"I hope nothing bad happened." Creshenth said his face slightly pale.

"Meoooowrer." Mystic complained still locking eyes with Hanada.

Without warning the cat took off heading back out of the door. Hanada was right behind him.

"What the hell?" Kurogane yelled as everyone else followed suit.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxx

"This is stupid." Kurogane muttered for what felt like the hundredth time. "What good is a cat gonna be at finding someone?"

"Now, now Kuro-popo, we have to at least give the idea a chance." Fai chided with his usual smile.

"Meeeeoower" Mystic complained scratching at a tree.

Hanada knelt trying to see what the cat was trying to show her. "Blood." She whispered.

"Blood?" Creshenth repeated.

"If there's blood then she might have left a trail. We should try to follow it." Syaoran offered trying to be helpful and allow the others to keep level heads.

"Mokona knows the way!" Mokona shouted pointing off to the right. Kurogane grimaced unwilling to take directions from the little annoyance.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxx

**Tsubasa Falls: 'kay so there's a reason I wanted to end it here…BUT I WON'T TELL YOU! : (**

**Kanathia: Calm down would you?**

**Tsubasa Falls: Fine, fine. Well I guess that's it for now. I'd write a longer note, but I'm tired and have school tomorrow so…yeah.**

**Kanathia: ha. High school.**

**Tsubasa Falls: : (**

**Kanathia: 'til next time.**

**~Kanathia & Tsubasa Falls**


	5. Chapter 5

** 5: Chapter 4**

* * *

**Tsubasa Falls: So here we are at chapter five.**

**Kanathia: Indeed.**

**Tsubasa Falls: We would have put it up earlier this week, but a lot of crazy crap happened.**

**Kanathia: Tell me about it.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Well, that's for after the chapter. Lots of interesting secrets revealed today so enjoy that.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxx**

"Well, I'm a popular man today." The man said as he stood from his chair on the porch. Six children had just run into the small clearing that was his yard.

"Can I help you?" he called walking down his steps.

"Maybe." A tall woman stepped forward. "My name is Hanada. We're looking for a friend. Her name's Kanathia. We think she might have come through this way."

"RIGHT! Mokona see's that the blood trail stops here." Mokona said hopping up and down.

The man was silent. He seemed a bit shocked by Mokona.

"Oh, uh…don't mind him. He's uh…a mutated rabbit." Hanada said nervously.

"Mokona's not a rabbit, Mokona's a Mokona." Mokona replied indignantly.

"Can you help?" Creshenth asked placing a hand on Hanada's shoulder. "I have a picture if that helps."

Hanada shot him a look that clearly said, 'how did you get a picture?'.

The man shook his head. "I don't get too many visitors out this far in the woods." He started. Immediately the entire group seemed to deflate. "Today seems to be a busy day." He finished rubbing the back of his head. Then he took a step back seemingly shocked about something.

"Is something wrong?" Hanada said catching his sudden nervousness.

"You!" the man said angrily and his finger pointed to the youngest boy in the group, Syaoran.

Hanada turned to see him too.

"Now I don't know what happened between the two of you, but I don't approve of hitting women!" the man said angrily.

Hanada stared between the two baffled.

"Wait. Slow down." Creshenth said trying to gain control of the conversation. "What are you talking about?"

"I came out of my house earlier when I saw this weird flash of light." The man said lighting a cigarette as if trying to calm himself. "And I saw him hitting some girl. Or trying to at least."

"Trying to?" Creshenth started with a confused scowl on his face.

"Girl? What girl? " Hanada interrupted. "Where is she? Does she have red hair? What does she look like? Did she say her name?" The questions flew from her mouth faster than they could possibly be answered.

"She did have red hair, but I'm not going to tell you where she is until I get answers to why your friend over there was beating on her!" the man said angrily.

Creshenth turned to Syaoran wide-eyed. "Did you really..?"

"N-" Syaoran barely got that much out before Sakura stepped in front of him.

"It's a misunderstanding!" She cried. "He didn't! It was… "Sya"…"

She collapsed and Fai caught her. "It seems she's falling asleep again hmm?" he said lifting her.

"Please!" Hanada begged the man just holding back tears. "Please tell me where she is."

The man frowned down at her. "Fine." He conceded. "But your friends are staying here."

She nodded.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxx**

The man led her to a small room in the back of his home that only contained a bed and a chair. Laying in the bed was a battered Kanathia.

"Oh…" was all Hanada managed to get out before she collapsed at the side of the bed in tears. They were tears of relief and fury. She had finally managed to find Kanathia and now she wanted to hurt whoever had done this to her. She wiped her eyes and looked up at the man. "Tell me what happened."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxx**

About twenty or so minutes had passed with the group standing there nervously awaiting Hanada's return. Slowly the front door opened and she emerged head lowered.

"Hanada." Creshenth whispered in relieved. "How did it…?" she brushed past him without a word head still lowered.

She made a bee line and grabbed Syaoran by his shirt. Her head snapped up and her eyes were ablaze with rage. "What did you do?" she screamed.

He made no attempt to free himself hanging limply as though he deserved everything she could do.

"Please Hana-chan." Fai said placing a hand on her arm. "There's been a mistake."

"What happened to Kana isn't fake!" Hanada shouted. Her hand loosened on Syaoran's shirt and tears filled her eyes. "How could you?"

"I'm sorry." Syaoran said. His eyes looked into hers and she could tell he was being sincere.

"So you admit you did it?" the man said from behind Hanada.

Syaoran placed a single hand on Hanada's arm. "No." He replied.

"I'm confused." Creshenth muttered.

"I didn't directly harm Kanathia, but…"

Fai placed a hand on Syaoran's shoulder. "It's not your fault." He said.

Syaoran didn't look convinced.

"Hana."

Her hand slid from Syaoran's shirt as she turned to the sounds of the other girl's voice. "Kana." She whispered. Then she shouted Kanathia's name and ran to her and hugged her tightly.

"That's…not helping." Kanathia said with a cringe trying and failing to remove the girl's hands.

"Kana-chan." Fai said hopefully. "When you were-"

Kurogane scoffed effectively cutting off Fai's voice. "The kid didn't hurt anyone. He's been with us all day anyway."

"I clearly saw him!" the man said looking more than a little pissed off that someone questioned him.

"'Syaoran' isn't Syaoran." Mokona offered helpfully.

"I give up." Creshenth muttered darkly. "I don't understand any of this."

"He's telling the truth Kana-chan." Fai offered. "I don't know how to explain it without telling a really long…" he trailed off as Kanathia held her hand up.

"You can stop." She said quietly. "I know it wasn't him."

Everyone, but the still sobbing Hanada and the unconscious Sakura looked taken aback by those words.

"No offense ma'am." The man said putting his hand on his hip. "but how the hell would you know that? From the way you're moving and not really focusing on anything I can tell you're blind and blind people aren't exactly the best and distinguishing facial features."

Kanathia's eyes lifted to glance at the man who had so easily guessed her disability. Her head tilted to the side slightly as if she were thinking about something that had nothing to do with the current situation. "I'm blind, but I can still see." She answered mysteriously.

Hanada had calmed down a little and was following the exchange while wiping her eyes.

It was Creshenth who clarified what the girl had meant. "Kana doesn't use her eyes to see things any more. She can use her other senses to make up for her blindness. When it comes to identifying different people she-"

"Auras." Kanathia finished the thought with just one word.

Kurogane nodded in understanding.

"It looks like Kuro-po knows what you're talking about." Fai said smiling.

"Stop with the damn names!" Kurogane fumed.

Kanathia's gaze settled on Kurogane, a small smile graced her lips. 'You can see them too.' Is what her look seemed to say.

"Well how the hell do you know the kid isn't the one who attacked you? What exactly are these auras or whatever?" the man chimed in again.

"The one who attacked me," Kanathia started and then grimaced a little and placed a finger to a long scrape along her jaw. "had no aura." A pause as her eyes settled on Syaoran's general area. "He does."

"What I don't understand is why the hell that guy attacked you in the first place." Creshenth said with a scowl.

Hanada nodded furiously.

"Did he say anything?" Syaoran asked seriously.

Kanathia's eyebrows scrunched. She nodded. "Feather."

"Feather?" Creshenth repeated mockingly. "Maybe the guy was trying to make a pillow."

Hanada rolled her eyes. "I take it that you have met this person before?" she directed the question at Fai and Syaoran who were standing relatively close together.

Syaoran's gaze dropped to the ground. Fai met the stare with a small sad smile. "We have, but that's a story for better circumstances no?" he offered. "Perhaps we should get Kana-chan home and then we can talk about it?"

The guy seemed to flinch at the suggestion. Kanathia's eyes shifted to him and narrowed slightly. "Who are you?" the cadence of her voice and had changed and her accent was gone.

Everyone looked at her shocked into silence.

"Kana…your accent…" Creshenth whispered.

Kanathia just looked at them in confusion. The man hadn't answered. "I was speaking Ishilden. You shouldn't have been able to understand me." She said obviously confused.

"I thought we were all speaking Ishilden." Fai heard the man mutter.

"Ah, Mokona must have…" Syaoran started.

Mokona hopped down in front of Kanathia. "Mokona's a translator!"

A look of comprehension crossed Kanathia's face. Then she looked slightly annoyed at herself for having forgotten that fact.

"Okay, that's enough. What the HELL is that thing?" the man said pointing a finger at Mokona as though Mokona had threatened him.

"Mokona's a Mokona!" Mokona answered looking slightly offended that he'd had to repeat himself.

"He's a computer." Hanada said simply. "Isn't that right Mokona." She said stressing Mokona's name as if to warn it away from disagreeing.

Mokona said nothing instead opting to climb back Sakura's bag which was laying across her lap.

"Well, I'll admit I don't know much about computers, but I don't think…"

"Hanada." Kanathia interrupted. Hanada turned to her questioningly. Kanathia motioned for her to lean closer as the man in the background continued to fume about technology. "I need to talk to him, alone."

Hanada drew back more than a little confused. "Why alone?"

Kanathia didn't answer instead giving the other girl a stern look with her dead eyes. Hanada stopped for a second before asking, "Is this about why you were talking in Ishilden a minute ago?"

Kanathia didn't respond and Hanada sighed. "Fine, fine. Hey guys!" she called startling everyone who had been watching the heated discussion of technology that was going on between Fai and the man.

"Yes, Hana-chan?" Fai said immediately in a sweet voice.

"I see this awesome rock over there that looks almost exactly like Mokona! Come on!" she said grabbing both Fai's and, very carefully because he was holding the unconscious Sakura, Kurogane's arms and pulling them with her. Syaoran looked between the group quickly moving away and Kanathia unable to decide between going and staying. Eventually he gave in and followed Hanada.

"That's an interesting group of friends you've got there." The man said with a smile.

Kanathia nodded then sighed and pushed some hair out of her face. "You are Ishilden." Though the comment obviously wasn't a question the man replied with a shocked 'yes'.

"That's weird." He said looking curiously at the girl. "I have mixed blood so most of the time people can't tell. And I'm fluent in all of Hoenda's languages. How could you tell?"

"Your Aura." She said simply. "I spent a lot of time in Ishilda when I was younger. I've learned how the people of my land carry themselves. I can also feel the magic coming from you."

The man gave a small smirk. "So you're Ishilden? You're an interesting girl. Something tells me that attack on you earlier wasn't by chance either."

Kanathia's head tilted. "Is there a reason you're here now?" she asked and her eyes settled on him instead of looking into the distance as they had been.

He hesitated, then nodded. "Yep. I'm looking for someone. Though, honestly, I think I might already have found her."

She was silent for a moment. "Me?" she asked reading the meaning behind his words.

"Yep. Well maybe. Would you happen to be you happen to be the young Emperor's sister?"

She was silent. "Why are you looking for me?" she didn't seem nervous though honestly after the number of assassins that had been sent after her you'd think she might have been.

"Your brother caught wind of an uprising. He took care of it, but now there are many who seek revenge on the royal family."

"From the way you talk," she said stopping him before he could continue. "I would assume you not to be one of those seeking revenge."

"Correct."

"Your name?"

"Sanfirith."

She looked amused. "San firith." She said the two parts of his name separately. "My brother sent his highest knight?"

The man let out a genuine smile. "So you are her. Your brother told me that if I just said my name you would know who I am. I have to admit that I was doubtful, but it appears I shouldn't have been."

She stayed quiet for a minute thinking. "Why did he send you?" she had noticed his lack of answer earlier and wasn't going to let it slide.

"Honestly, lady, he told me to protect you and he said if I could convince you to come back to do that too."

There was silence, and Kanathia could feel the auras of the others starting to drift closer out of curiosity perhaps. She broke into laughter confusing Sanfirith and the group who had heard nothing else, but were shocked nonetheless to hear her laugh. "Your speech is quite crude for a knight." She said with a small smile. "It's a weird request you're making you know, considering he's the one who sent me here in the first place."

Sanfirith grinned. "You might be the first person of the royal house not threatening to take my head for speaking like I do lady."

Kanathia nodded still smiling. "They always were too stuck on tradition for my taste. Of course someone like me who was born without much magical power was a liability."

"I take it you aren't objecting to me guarding you then?" he said hopefully.

She frowned for a moment. "I suppose not. I will have to ask that you not mention who I am, or for that matter who you are, to anyone though."

Sanfirith nodded determinedly, and threw in an, "Of course." for her sake.

**XXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxx**

"So remind me why this guy's tagging along again…" Kurogane muttered in Hanada's direction as they made their way back through the woods.

Hanada shrugged. "I haven't quite figured it out myself. I'll let you know when I come up with something Kuro-pi." She said with a grin.

Kurogane stared on in horror. "Not you too! Damn it mage!"

Fai laughed skipping a few steps further from Kurogane so he was out of strike range. "How are you feeling Kana-chan?" he asked smiling at the girl who had so recently been unconscious.

"I'm fine." She replied in an even and neutral voice.

Creshenth scowled looking forlorn. "Is something wrong?" Syaoran asked walking slower after he had caught the look on the boy's face.

"It's nothing." Creshenth said waving a hand dismissively in the air.

"You seem upset Mr. Creshenth." Sakura added joining the conversation. She had woken up a few minutes before they had departed from the field and had insisted on walking.

Creshenth bit back a stream of insults for the man who was now hovering very protectively by Kanathia's side. A single tear leaked from his eye and he turned to Sakura. "You're so kind Sakura! Why couldn't I have fallen for someone like you?" he blubbered clinging to the girl's shoulders as though they were the only support in the world.

"Oh get off of her you big baby." Hanada said dragging the wailing Creshenth away. "Don't worry about him you guys. He's just jealous of anyone of the male gender who gets even slightly close to Kana.

Sakura laughed and Syaoran just sent Creshenth an understanding yet amused look.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxx**

**Tsubasa Falls: So? What did you guys think? Good? Too much talking?**

**Kanathia: I'm sure someone will leave a review and tell you.**

**Tsubasa Falls: I guess…well, that reason we took so long putting it up is that Kana's first classes were this past week.**

**Kanathia: Yep. And they were awesome. There were other things too, but let's not get into that.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Well, if you feel like it drop a review and let us know what you thought of the chapter. Also, we're, or more specifically Kana is, looking for crossover ideas. So, if you two series in mind that you think would be interesting together you can leave that in a review as well.**

**Kanathia: That's all for now. 'til next time.**

**~Kanathia & Tsubasa Falls**


	6. Chapter 6

**6: Chapter 5**

* * *

**Tsubasa Falls: So here's the next chapter! Yay! I had fun writing this one. Although, most of the humor is from Kana. She's just better with that kind of stuff than I am.**

**Kanathia: You learn certain things when you help script for an abridged series.**

**Tsubasa Falls: O.O**

**Kanathia: On to the chapter.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxx**

The group sat in Kanathia's apartment trying not to feel awkward around their newest addition.

"Soooooo…" Creshenth started then trailed off unsure what else to say. "Uh, I never caught your name."

"Sanfirith." The guy said with a frown like he still didn't quite trust any one of them.

"That's an interesting name." Fai said happily.

"What's yours?" Sanfirith said raising a quizzical eyebrow.

"Fai D. Flowright." Fai offered still smiling. "But you can just call me Fai."

"Oh yeah, you're definitely one to comment on names." Sanfirith said rolling his eyes.

"Hey I like his name!" Creshenth pouted defending the blonde more out of spite towards Sanfirith than anything else. Sakura nodded vigorously by his side for different reasons.

Hanada grabbed Kanathia's arm while the others were distracted and started to haul her away from the group. When they had successfully made it to her room and shut the door without gaining more than a curious glance from Kurogane, Hanada sighed with relief.

"Alright Kana." Hanada said turning on the other girl. "I can understand why you would to keep it from Creshenth and the others, but you're not keeping secrets from me. Who is that guy? And why did I have to drag everyone away earlier so you could talk to him?"

Kanathia didn't speak for several minutes and the silence was palpable. Eventually she started with a simple question. "You remember what I told you when you asked me why I was really in Hoenda?"

Hanada nodded her head unsure what this had to do with the man in the dining room. "That you were sent away from your home in order to protect something, and that you're…"

Kanathia shook her head and glanced at the door. It was obvious she didn't want to be overheard.

"That man, his name is Sanfirith. When San is put in front of the name it's used as a sort of message. Only one knight under the emperor's rule has it and only a select few know that it is given to his most trusted knight. The fact that he's here…" Kanathia stopped and shook her head either unwilling or unable to finish her statement.

"So you're telling me that guy out is the most trusted knight of the Ishilden emperor?" Hanada asked incredulously. "The guy can't be much older than you Kana. How is that possible?"

Kanathia shook her head. "I don't know how he became what he is, but I don't think he's lying."

Hanada was staring and then a grin split her face. "You know this might be the most I've ever seen you talk." She said with a small laugh.

Kanathia shook her head. "Idiot." She muttered and headed for the door. She grab the doorknob and as the door opened she caught sight Creshenth and Fai posed in the air as if they had just had their ears pressed to the door to listen in on the conversation on the other side. Kanathia froze. How much had they heard?

Fai stepped away looking slightly abashed, although he looked more like he was having fun. "Ah, Kana-chan…We were just about to ask if you needed help with something." He finished smoothly. Kurogane scoffed from his corner.

"Sorry about that." Sanfirith offered. "I tried to stop them, but somehow they got around me."

"How much did you guys hear?" Hanada asked walking up behind Kanathia with a small scowl on her face.

"Ah, well um…not much…" Creshenth said not meeting her gaze.

"You heard all of it didn't you?" Hanada asked again.

"Define 'all'." Creshenth muttered.

"Ugh you did, didn't you?" she said pushing the boy aside.

Creshenth didn't answer as Kanathia fixed him with a level glare.

"You know if it's any consolation I can suppress memories." Sanfirith offered suddenly chipper as he took a sip of tea which had been set out.

Creshenth looked extremely nervous. His eyes kept looking between Kanathia and Sanfirith at an amazing pace. Fai on the other hand had the same look he always had plastered on his face. Although underneath that he seemed to be sizing Sanfirith up.

"No." Kanathia said with a small shake of her head. She rubbed her temples.

Sanfirith deflated. Apparently he had really wanted to do it.

"Is it really that big of deal that I know?" Creshenth pouted. "It's not like I'm going to go running down the street announcing it to the whole country."

Kanathia said nothing settling her eyes somewhere near the door. "You misunderstand. The more people who know the more likely the secret is to get out. There's a reason even I was so quiet for years." She said matter-of-factly.

"Wait, this guy," Creshenth said pointing at Sanfirith, "Is supposed to be some kind of knight right, for the Ishilden emperor? But, that doesn't explain why the hell he's here, and I heard you mention something about protecting something. What are you protecting?"

Kanathia held her silence.

"To be honest." Fai said breaking the silence. "I'm curious as well. If they sent a knight then obviously you need protection of some sort right?"

"We can help." Syaoran offered catching Fai's line of thought.

"Please let us help." Sakura said touching Kanathia's shoulder.

"Now, now I'm more than enough protection for little Miss Kanathia. Isn't that right?" Sanfirith said with a smirk shot at Kanathia.

"It doesn't hurt to have more help." Syaoran countered politely. "And we are staying here anyway."

"I think it might be a good idea." Hanada offered with sincerity. "I don't see how it could affect you negatively."

Much to Sanfirith's apparent disappointment Kanathia nodded.

"Good." Fai said with a smile. "I'm glad to see we're all in agreement."

"Yeah, and maybe since you can trust us enough to protect you, you might want to tell us **why** we're protecting you." Creshenth said slumping against the wall still pouting.

"That's not really any of your business now is it?" Sanfirith quipped with a smirk.

"It makes it a little hard to protect something if you have no idea what it is." Kurogane replied just as quickly.

Sanfirith opened his mouth to argue, but Kanathia raised a hand silencing him effectively.

"It's hard to explain." Kanathia said.

"You could start by telling us why such a high ranked knight was sent to protect you." Fai offered happily.

Kanathia looked uncomfortable talking about this topic. "I was forced to leave Ishilda years ago to protect a powerful magic item my brother gave me. It's been the target of many houses who oppose ours. If it fell into their hands it would mean disaster for not only Ishilda, but many other countries as well."

Syaoran had perked up at the words "powerful magic item".

"Who exactly is your brother and why did you guys have such a powerful magical item anyway? Wouldn't it have just been confiscated by a royal family if it were that dangerous?" Creshenth said looking as though he didn't really believe that it could be that dangerous.

Kanathia frowned. "My brother…is the emperor of Ishilda. Yukito Tsukishiro." She said hesitating to reveal such a secret.

Syaoran choked on his tea at the name. Could it be a look alike to the Yukito from Clow? Creshenth stared at her like she had just declared she was actually a purple hippopotamus with fairy wings and a tutu.

"I knew a man named Yukito where I'm from." Sakura said smiling.

"Your…your brother…"

"Is the emperor of Ishilda. Jeez Creshenth keep up would you?" Hanada scoffed.

"If this item is so dangerous can't it just be destroyed?" Kurogane half muttered trying to change the topic.

Kanathia shook her head. "We've tried countless times. It's too powerful."

"Maybe we could destroy it for you." Fai said helpfully. "We have magic that's very different from yours. Perhaps that's what you need."

Fai gestured to himself and Syaoran. He didn't mention that he suspected that it might also be Sakura's feather. It would explain why they had found nothing about it in the library. They were in the wrong country.

Kanathia shook her head. "It's not that simple." She said tapping her eyes. "I gave up my eyesight to seal the item within me. The seal can only be undone when I die. That's why I've had assassins after my life since I was young."

"Since you were young?" Creshenth repeated. "Exactly when did you do that?"

"When I was five and my brother took over as emperor."

"Five? Kana you were only a kid! How could they make a-"

"They did not make me do anything." She replied harshly. The room for some reason felt colder. "I offered myself as the container so that my country could continue in peace. It was an honor."

Clearly Kanathia had strong feelings about this. She seemed completely different from the person they had met only a day ago.

Creshenth stared at the floor obviously regretting his choice of words.

Sanfirith yawned. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm certainly getting tired." He said trying to diffuse the tension.

"I am too. Running through a forest while panicking can tire you out." Hanada said with a laugh. "Come on Kana, we'll get your wounds cleaned before you head to bed."

**XXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxx**

Slowly everyone started to find places to lay down for sleep. Sanfirith had fallen asleep sitting in one of Kanathia's straight-backed wooden chairs. How he had managed to get comfortable Syaoran still couldn't figure out.

Syaoran, Fai, and Kurogane were sitting at the table still talking in low voices.

"Did you guys get the feeling that thing Kanathia's protecting might be the feather?" Syaoran asked keeping an eye of Sanfirith to make sure he was still sleeping.

"You think the girl has a feather in her?" Kurogane asked just a little skeptical.

"It wouldn't be the first time." Fai chided. "Remember in the Hanshin republic? There was a feather in the boy's kudan."

Syaoran recalled having seen that through his clone's eyes and suppressed a shudder.

"Well even if it is in her we can't do anything about it." Kurogane huffed. "She already said removing it would take ending her life."

Fai nodded glumly. "Mokona can help!" Mokona said jumping up onto the table and announcing itself happily.

"Ah, Mokona, where have you been? I didn't see you since we left Knight-san's house." Fai said with a smile.

Mokona seemed to deflate a little at that.

"You said you can help Mokona? How?" Syaoran asked curiously.

"Mokona can call Yuuko! Yuuko might have a way!" Mokona answered happy once more at the prospect of calling Yuuko.

"Oh no you don't." Kurogane said suddenly. "That witch will want something and I-"

"Too late!" Mokona said and the projected image flicked to life before their eyes.

At first there was nothing and then a boy came into view. "Mokona? What the…" he said trailing off as he caught sight of the group in the projection from his side.

"Ah, um…" he seemed unable to find words.

"You're that kid." Kurogane broke the silence everyone else had been startled into when they had not seen the familiar face of Yuuko. Syaoran diverted his eyes away from Watanuki. "Since we apparently don't have a choice in the matter," Kurogane continued. "Where the hell is that witch?"

"Now, now Kuro-popon her name is Yuuko." Fai chided teasingly.

Kurogane muttered about mages and nicknames.

"Yuuko? Well she…she's in the bath at the moment. I don't think she was expecting a call from anyone tonight." Watanuki said contemplatively. "If you give me a moment I'll-"

"There's no need Watanuki, I'm here now." Yuuko said coming into the image.

"Ah, Yuuko…DID YOU HAVE THAT SAKE IN THERE THEWHOLE TIME?" Watanuki yelled when spotted the large bottle in her hand.

Yuuko chuckled. "Now there's no point in being such a prude Watanuki. Go make some snacks. Sake's always better with snacks."

"Fine, but you're only getting half as much tomorrow." He said moving away from Mokona.

"How can I help you three?" Yuuko said taking a seat.

"As if you don't already know." Kurogane accused still in a bad mood.

Yuuko lifted a brow with a small smile. "If you think I already know, I might. However, if you don't think I know I probably do not."

"Thanks, that cleared up a lot." Kurogane muttered.

"Yuuko, it's about the thing sealed in Kanathia. We were wondering if it was a feather." Syaoran said staring at the witch determinedly.

Yuuko settled her gaze on him. She was sure it must have been quite the shock to him to have come face to face with Watanuki so unexpectedly. "Telling you that would cost a price." She said levelly.

All three looked at each other.

"Well let's say that we wanted to break the seal and get whatever's there. Would you be able to do that?" Syaoran asked seriously.

A hand softly touched Syaoran's shoulder. He turned to see Sakura standing there. "I heard what you were talking about." She said with just the slightest tinge of exhaustion in her tone. She turned her gaze to Yuuko. "If it means endangering Kana's life I don't want to try."

Yuuko stared at them for a moment longer. "It does not matter. I cannot grant that wish regardless of whether or not it would harm her."

"Why is that?" Fai asked curiously. "Is the price to high?"

Yuuko smiled. "Yes, and no. The price is indeed high. Higher than I believe Princess Sakura is willing to have anyone pay on her behalf, but that is not the only reason. When two people come to me with equally strong wishes that would otherwise cancel each other out, the first person to come to me with their wish is the one who will have their wish granted. I believe that Kanathia and her brother have beaten you here by many years."

Everyone stared wide eyed at the witch. "Does that mean…you are the one who sealed that item in Kana?" Sakura asked glancing towards Kanathia's door.

"Correct." Yuuko answered.

"At the cost of her eyesight?" Syaoran asked low enough that they could barely hear him.

"Among other things." Yuuko said seriously. "It was a large wish. I cannot discuss it any further with you though. It is a contract between her and I. Should she wish to divulge the situation that is different."

A plate appeared in front of Yuuko. "Mochi?" Yuuko said staring at the small pink squares and then up to Watanuki who was holding the plate. "How did you make mochi that fast?"

Watanuki scowled. "I made them earlier so I wouldn't have to cook if you asked for a snack."

"Oh, Watanuki you're so considerate." She said patting the kneeling boys shoulder. She turned back to the group. "Well, if that's all the questions you have."

Syaoran nodded. He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Ah, um, thank you." Sakura said with an awkward smile.

"Not at all. It was nice seeing you again Mokona." Yuuko added as the image cut out.

Silence filled the room. Everyone was a little disheartened that Yuuko hadn't been able to help.

"Well, that was interesting…" the voice was so sudden it made Sakura jump a little.

"Sanfirith." Syaoran said turning to the man.

Sanfirith was staring at the place where just moments before the image of Yuuko had been.

"Did we wake you?" Fai asked with a weary smile.

"No." he replied turning his gaze. "Never really fell asleep."

Syaoran heard Kurogane scoff.

"What exactly is this feather you guys are looking for?" Sanfirith asked eyes narrowed at Syaoran.

Sakura took a step forward. "It's a magical feather that was made from my memories." She said.

Sanfirith looked mildly surprised for a moment before he smirked. "A magical feather made of memories. Well that's not something you hear every day." He said with a sarcastic laugh. "There's just one problem with your theory of that being the thing inside Miss Kanathia. That item was sealed in her almost fifteen years ago, and you don't look much older than fifteen yourself. So unless they're memories of your infancy I doubt that it's what you're looking for."

There was a pause. Kanathia and Hanada knew that they weren't from this world, and that time between worlds isn't relative, but that wasn't something that normal people should know.

"You're right." Fai said happily. "We hadn't thought about that."

Sanfirith smiled apparently proud of himself.

"I think it's late and we should all get some rest."Fai offered.

XXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Tsubasa Falls: Reviews. They make me so happy. T^T**

**Kanathia: We did get a few this time.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Thank you everyone who reviewed! You guys are amazing and deserve awesome things. On a negative note…**

**Kanathia: I injured my back.**

**Tsubasa Falls: It's not too serious, but it may take more than a few days to get the next chapter out.**

**Kanathia: Indeed. My editing abilities are near zero since even holding the computer and typing causes pain at the moment. The doctor says a few days on the muscle relaxers should help though.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Yay! I'm sure every one hopes you get better soon, if only so they can read more. XD**

**Kanathia: gee…thanks…**

**Tsubasa Falls: As always, drop a review and thanks for reading!**

**Kanathia: 'til next time.**

**~Kanathia & Tsubasa Falls**


	7. Chapter 7

**7: Chapter 6**

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**Tsubasa Falls: So here we are again at chapter 7! Kana?**

**Kanathia: -.- zzzzzzzzzzz**

**Tsubasa Falls: Ah, it has been a rough week for you hasn't it? I, on the other hand, aced my first test!**

**Kanathia: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Right…well…on to the chapter then.**

When everyone woke in the morning they found that Kanathia and Sanfirith were missing. Suspicion of the man was at an all time high, and Creshenth's rantings never ceased even when they found a note from Kanathia saying she would return soon.

Tension kept Hanada at the edge of her seat while she waited for Kanathia's return. At half past noon there was a knock on the door. Hanada opened it to reveal a slightly disheveled Sanfirith carrying a large duffle bag and a sword.

"You!" Creshenth yelled spotting the man. "What did you do with Kana?"

Sanfirith took a step back as Creshenth ran towards him causing the boy to misjudge his step and fall face first to the ground. "She's not back yet?" Sanfirith asked Hanada, the more reasonable of the two in his sight.

Hanada shook her head as visions of yesterday ran through it.

"Ah, well, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. She said it might take a while." Sanfirith said moving past Hanada to set down his things.

"Nothing to worry about?" Creshenth said loudly regaining his ability to complain "Aren't you supposed to be protecting her? How can you do that if you're here and she's not?"

Sanfirith rounded on Creshenth and grabbed the front of his shirt pulling him up roughly. "Listen kid, it's my job to protect her, not babysit her. If she says she needs to do something on her own I can respect that as long as I know it isn't going to get her killed." He released Creshenth's shirt with a small shove that sent the boy tumbling. "I've been in this town for months keeping an eye on things. There isn't anyone in this town who would do her more harm than the locals. Well, except for that kid from yesterday, but well let's just say that kid shouldn't be showing his face any time soon."

"What did you do to him?" Sakura had suddenly appeared in the doorway. Her wide eyes were locked onto Sanfirith.

"I found him snooping around my place this morning so I gave him the gift of a broken arm and a few broken fingers. That's not to say he didn't ask for it. The kid attacked me first." Sanfirith added with a smirk towards the end.

Sakura looked like she was going to be sick. "Sakura-chan." Fai said appearing behind her. "Why don't you go take a shower? Syaoran just got out, it's all free."

Sakura didn't move for half a second then seemed to unfreeze as Fai laid a hand on her shoulder. She gave a nod and disappeared.

"Is she alright?" Hanada asked voice filled with worry.

Fai smiled. "I'm sure she'll be alright. Sakura-chan is just worried about everyone."

Sanfirith plopped down on a chair. "You never did explain why those kids look so similar. As a matter of fact, they look identical. The only difference I noticed when I saw them both up close was their eye colors. Are they twins or something?"

A nearly imperceptible shiver ran through the mage's body. "Ah…not exactly." Fai said with a bit more forced smile.

"It's the kid's clone." Kurogane said walking into the room. "Anyone see the meat bun? He took something from me."

Hanada shook her head in shock. "No, I don't see Mokona. What do you mean 'clone'?"

Syaoran entered the room. "I found him Kurogane." He said holding up the struggling Mokona. All eyes locked on him.

Kurogane took the struggling Mokona and exited the room threatening it the whole way. Syaoran glanced around. "What were you guys talking about?" Syaoran asked with a small rather fake looking smile.

"Ah..well…" Hanada started unsure.

Sanfirith cut her off. "You actually." He said with a bit of a snort. "More specifically the guy who looks like you."

Syaoran eyes seemed to stare at anything that wasn't human. "I guess…it was going to come up eventually."

"Is he really your clone?" Creshenth finally piped up from the floor. Then he immediately slapped a hand over his mouth like he hadn't meant to say anything.

Syaoran fixed his gaze on Creshenth. Then he let out a small sigh. "Yes." He answered simply.

"That's not something you see every day." Sanfirith scoffed. "So why exactly is the guy running around attacking people?"

Syaoran shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, you see, the other 'Syaoran' used to travel with us, but then…" Fai started trying to be helpful before he realized that saying any more would mean revealing secrets that weren't really his to tell.

"The Syaoran who attacked you in the forest is a clone created by a man who wishes harm on the world." Syaoran had to stop himself from saying universes. "When he was created I placed a seal on his eye and left part of my soul in his body. For years he was just like any other person, but recently…the seal broke. I didn't make it in time to stop that from happening. Now whatever humanity was in him is gone. He only listens to orders from his creator now."

Sanfirith hadn't been expecting an explanation that involved. He whistled. "That's quite the story you've got there kid. I'm tempted to believe you."

Hanada placed a hand on Syaoran's shoulder as the boy dutifully stared at the floor. "I believe you Syaoran. I know Kana would believe you too." She sent a reassuring smile his way. "You ought to try to smile more often though. It sounds like you tried your best, and I don't think anyone blames you for what happened."

Fai nudged him too with a grin.

Just then the door swung open revealing a slightly out of breath Kanathia.

"Ah…Kana?" Hanada said walking to her.

Kanathia gave her a small smile. "Not to worry. I was just taking care of some last minute business."

"Last minute business?" Creshenth repeated.

Kanathia nodded shutting the door. "We can leave tomorrow." She said directing the statement to where she knew Sanfirith was sitting.

"Leave? I'm not following what you're talking about Kana."

"Tomorrow I'll be returning to Ishilda."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Over the next few hours there had been many complaints courtesy of Hanada and Creshenth. Both thought it was a bad idea for Kanathia to return to Ishilda so suddenly, but Kanathia couldn't be dissuaded no matter how much Hanada tried to reason with her or Creshenth cried about unfairness. Eventually Kanathia put an end to the discussion so she could make food for everyone. As she went to the kitchen with Sakura tagging along to help everyone else sat in the dining room silent, but for the occasional sound of cloth moving or bang from the kitchen. Creshenth's pouting was probably what kept them quiet for so long. He seemed he might flip out on the first thing that made noise at the moment.

Eventually Fai could take the silence no more, and he broke it first with a small cough then a question directed at Sanfirith. "So, exactly how far from here is Ishilda?"

Sanfirith seemed to be startled out of a reverie. "Ah, normally if we all had passports we could take the train through the border checkpoints and be in the capital in about two day's time. However, from the way Kanathia was talking, you guys don't have any, and it takes too long to get new ones, even if they're fake. So we'll have to get off before we cross the border and pass into Ishilda on foot." He said seeming to calculate in his head as he spoke. "We can re-board a couple of towns past the border, but it's going to cost us at least two days, and with the size of our group we'll have to be really careful not to be spotted near the border."

Sanfirith's eyes focused on Fai as he slowly stopped talking. Then he answered the actual question. "I'd say all things considered it should take around four days."

"That's a quite a trip." Syaoran spoke up.

"That it is. To top it off Ishildans aren't exactly fond of people from Hoenda. That means anyone from our group who looks Hoendan that's crossing the border will have to cover up a bit once we cross, myself included. Normally I would just tell them who I am, but I can't exactly go around telling people I'm escorting the emperor's sister. There'd be upheavals in the streets."

"Are the people unhappy with her?" Fai asked seriously.

"No!" Hanada said sharply.

"The opposite." Sanfirith said with a smile at Hanada. "Her brother is quite popular, one of the best leaders Ishilda has seen in centuries. If the citizens found out who she was they'd most likely be throwing parades and asking her if she'd bless their children or something."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Syaoran asked confused. "If they know who she is and they like her wouldn't it be better to just tell them who she is and avoid all the sneaking around."

Sanfirith shook his head. "Drawing that much attention to ourselves is bound to backfire. There aren't nearly enough of us to protect her from a mob, and over excited people can be just as dangerous as people who intend harm. And she does have enemies. Giving away her position opens us to assassination attempts."

Syaoran was nodding grimly when Sanfirith finished. "Right, I hadn't thought of that."

"Quite the strategist." Kurogane grunted from the corner.

"That's what I'm paid for." Sanfirith said with a smile.

"Dinner's ready." Sakura said with a smile bringing out a pot full of what looked like beef stew.

XXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxx

After dinner everyone sat at the table unsure of what to do next.

"So, I guess maybe we should head to bed? I assume we're getting up pretty early tomorrow." Hanada said with a sort of mock cheer.

"Right, it's not good to stay up too late if you're getting up early." Creshenth said trying to carry the mood.

Kanathia shook her head. "You're not going." She said simply.

Creshenth and Hanada froze. "You…you're joking right Kana?" Creshenth asked leaning in slightly.

Kanathia shook her head again.

"Absolutely not!" Hanada blew up. "You're not leaving me behind! I absolutely refuse to just sit back here while you're out there risking your life and…and…"

"That's my point Hana." Kanathia said disapprovingly. "I've asked too much of you already. Putting your life on the line for my sake isn't going to lessen the debt I owe you or your uncle any."

"No! That's not fair!" Hanada nearly screamed. "You don't get to decide this! I'm making my own decision. I'm choosing to follow you. That means it's my fault if something happens to me!"

"Right!" Creshenth added. "We're all adults here!"

"No. You're not." Kanathia added warningly. "Even if Hanada comes you're still a child Creshenth. You're sixteen."

Syaoran's eyes shot wide at that. He had thought Creshenth was around the same age as Hanada. They were about the same height and he certainly didn't look the same age as Sakura and him.

Creshenth sputtered for a moment. Then his eyes became a bit cold like he was thinking of things long since passed. "I just…" he started talking as he moved away from the table. "I knew you didn't take me seriously…but I didn't…I didn't think you hated me this much."

Before anyone could stop him he ran for the door and was gone. Slowly the door shut behind him.

Hanada sighed. "That was a bit harsh…wasn't it Kana?"

Kanathia shrugged though she silently looked like she agreed. "It is better if he hates me if it means he will stay here and be safe, isn't it?" Her eyes seemed to beg someone agree with her, but no one did so out loud.

"Then I suppose Hana-chan will be coming with us?" Fai said with a small sad smile.

Kanathia glanced in Hanada's direction. Hanada nodded determinedly.

"Good." Sanfirith said. "Now that all the drama is finally taken care of maybe we can get some sleep. Make sure you've got everything packed. We leave first thing in the morning."

And leave first thing in the morning is exactly what they did. It felt as though Syaoran had hardly laid his head down when he was being gently nudged awake by an over-zealous Hanada.

The group ate a quick breakfast, and was on its way to catch the morning train heading North. Once safely on board they found a large compartment near the back of the nearly empty train and piled in. For some reason Syaoran couldn't quite understand both Sanfirith and Kurogane seemed amused.

"You two seem to be in quite the good mood." Hanada commented once she had helped Sakura finish storing her bag above their heads.

She only got a smirk from Kurogane. Sanfirith smiled. "I'm sure you'll-"

"Kana!" the door to the compartment banged open startling all but two of the sleepy occupants. Standing there was none other than Creshenth.

"Cresh-" Hanada started in a scolding manner.

"No." Creshenth said and something about the gleam in his eyes made Hanada stop. "I'm doing this."

He stepped into the compartment and plopped into the only empty seat next to Syaoran. Kanathia looked up from where she had sat down in the corner. "You shouldn't be here." She said shortly. "You're just putting yourself in danger."

Creshenth averted his eyes to the door. "I don't know what you're talking about. This is just a coincidence. We both just happen to be taking a train North."

"At four in the morning the day after I told you I'd be leaving for Ishilda?" Kanathia asked deadpan.

Even Sakura was starting to get nervous as she watched the growing tension in Kanathia's expression.

"Oh?" Creshenth said blithely. "Is that when you said you were leaving?"

Silence filled the room unnervingly well, and was finally broken as a shrill whistle announced the start of the train's journey.

"Right, well…" Sanfirith said standing and grabbing his ticket from where the pile of them lay on the seat. "I'm going to go find an empty compartment to stretch out in since the train's so empty. It's about twenty hours to the border and the train only stops twice so I suggest everyone make themselves comfortable."

With that he exited the tense room with a wave.

Sakura was too busy giving worried looks to both Creshenth and Kanathia to give much thought to the knight's words.

Hanada grabbed Kanathia's hand trying to avoid any sort of major argument. "Come on Kana, why don't we go find a compartment for us girls to stretch out in? Sakura would you like to come as well?" Hanada said with a strained smile.

"Oh, um…" Sakura looked between the two once more before nodding. "Sure."

The moment the door shut behind Sakura, Creshenth slid down a little in his seat and let out a sigh. Kurogane stood. "I'll be back." He said simply as he left.

Only Fai, Syaoran, and Creshenth remained in the rather large compartment now. There was more than enough room for the three to stretch out if they wanted and so none had a good reason to leave.

"That was…tense." Fai said with a smile.

"Tell me about it." Creshenth said letting loose another sigh. "Kana can have a pretty bad temper when she wants to. I'm surprised I didn't find myself sitting outside of the train with a concussion."

"Ah, well, I don't think Kanathia doesn't want you here honestly." Syaoran said hurriedly. "I think she's just worried you know?"

Silence. "Yeah…" Creshenth finally assented. "I understand why she doesn't want me to go…but that doesn't mean I don't want to go. I mean what if I never saw here again? Isn't that worse than the threat of dying?"

"If you don't mind me prying…" Fai said smiling yet again as the boy's eyes met his. "You seem rather attached to Kanathia. Is there a reason?"

"Well I…" Creshenth blurted and then blushed. "She…she's pretty, and smart…and I know she's way out of my league, but for the longest time I've liked her. Every time I told her she's turned me down. I think that might have to do with what I said to her the first time we me…" Creshenth cut off mid sentence.

"What you said?" Fai pried curious.

"Well…it was more than just words. I guess… I was still pretty stupid back then." Creshenth said sadly.

"It couldn't have been that bad." Syaoran said hopefully trying to give him a supportive pat on the back.

Creshenth shook his head. "It was bad." He said simply. Then he sighed and glanced up. "You remember how I told you two that Hoenda doesn't really like outsiders? Well, that town we just left, it hasn't seen anyone outside of Hoendan descent for generations. Or, at least, it hadn't until Kanathia got there. Hanada's uncle just showed up one day with Kanathia. It was out of the blue, and the whole town was in an uproar about it. A lot of people thought she was some sort of spy sent there to get all of us killed. I guess it caused a sort of mass hysteria.

My family, well we're shrine keepers of sorts. When Kanathia arrived everyone thought she was either a spy, or some sort of evil spirit. So naturally she was brought to our shrine to be tested. My father told me that if we didn't appease the crowd that there'd probably be some sort of riot. So he told me when we did the 'test' I was supposed to throw the bottle of holy water at her and say she was evil."

At this point Creshenth looked close to tears.

"So I did. I thought she was evil. That's what everyone kept saying. So I threw it. And when it hit her it broke and she started bleeding. Everyone was yelling and throwing things. It was madness, but through everything all she did was push herself back up and smile at me."

He seemed to be lost in his memories.

"I don't think…that she blames you Creshenth." Syaoran said slowly.

Creshenth's eyes turned to his. They held for a minute before dropping with a sigh. "I know that she doesn't. I could tell she didn't blame me even right after I threw the bottle at her. Something about the way she smiled told me so, but the thing is, I blame me. I know it was my fault that she got hurt. I threw the bottle even though I knew it would cause the person in front of me physical harm…"

"I'm sure that Kana-chan would be sad to know that you think that way." Fai said with a frown.

Creshenth nodded. "I'm sure she thinks I only stay around her out of a sense of duty or something, but really she's just the type of person that you find you want to spend time around. I'm not really sure when it happened, but I know that at some point I stopped being afraid of her. I only wish that everyone else in that town could have seen her the way I do. Then maybe she wouldn't have to leave like this."

Syaoran shook his head sadly. "It's not that simple to make people change their minds about something. Besides, I don't think Kanathia needs everyone to like her. She seemed happy enough with you and Hanada."

Creshenth shook his head suddenly perking up. "That's the thing." He said smiling. "Kanathia has been there so long people started to trust her. She was actually holding a lecturing job on Ishildan culture at Hanada's university. She was slowly gaining students and people were starting to accept her. It's sort of sad that she had to leave now when she was finally starting to get people to accept her."

Slowly the train compartment lapsed into silence as the three got comfortable. It was, after all, going to be a long trip. They'd have plenty of time to talk later.

**Tsubasa Falls: So there you have it! Chapter 7 in all its brooding glory! This chapter got more than a little bit angsty there toward the end, but at least we finally revealed how Kanathia and Creshenth met, and to top it off the group is now heading toward the mysterious land of Ishilda!**

**Kanathia: Say wha?**

**Tsubasa Falls: Ah you're awake! Good, just in time to say goodbye! Don't forget to drop a review, and thanks for reading!**

**Kanathia: 'til next time.**

**Kanathia & Tsubasa Falls**


	8. Chapter 8

** 8: Chapter 7**

* * *

**Tsubasa Falls: Chapter 8!**

**Kanathia: I think they've figured out which chapter we're on…**

**Tsubasa Falls: er…right…**

As Sanfirith had planned they got off the train before they hit the border. There had been very little argument when Creshenth continued to follow them. Then the group had traveled for two and a half days through un-inhabited forests until Sanfirith had said it was okay to re-board the trains again. Overall sneaking into Ishilda had been fairly easy. During the time they had been traveling Creshenth and Kanathia had barely said more than a word or two to each other and Creshenth was clearly taking it hard that she still wasn't quite forgiving him.

Hanada let her hood down when they finally entered their own private cabin. "Man it's weird to have to wear a hood all the time." She complained plopping into her seat. "At least it's cold in Ishilda. If I had to wear clothes like this in Hoenda I'd probably die of heat stroke."

Everyone was wearing heavier clothing that sort of reminded Syaoran of the cloak that Fai had worn when they first met. In fact, rather than have Sanfirith dish out the money to buy him clothing he had produced his old cloak out of seemingly nowhere and was wearing it now. The girls were wearing thick fur-lined dresses and Syaoran kept finding his eyes drawn back to Kanathia. For some reason this clothing just looked natural on her.

"We'll be in the capital in a few hours." Sanfirith said taking the seat next to her. "Once you have official praise from the emperor to be here you won't have to hide your faces anymore."

Kurogane grunted leaving his hood hiding his face.

"As a matter-of-fact." Sanfirith said pulling a pen and paper from the inside of his jacket. He quickly scribbled something onto it. "I should send word ahead of us."

He folded the note in half and held it up. With a pop and a small distortion of color the note was gone.

Sakura leaned forward. "Was that magic?" she asked eyes wide.

Sanfirith nodded. "Not very powerful magic though. I was never too great at magic to be honest. That's weird coming from someone who lives in the magic capital of the world right?" he said laughing a bit.

Sakura shook her head. "No, I think it's great!" she said cheerfully. "You must be really good to do even that much right?"

Kanathia shifted uncomfortably in her seat by the window.

"Nah, not really." Sanfirith kept going. "That's an easier spell. It's a space distortion spell, and I can only do it because we're so close to the capital now. I've always sucked at long distance messages. I've heard you're pretty handy with magic yourself." He ended the statement with a nod towards Fai.

Fai only smiled knowingly opting, for once, not to talk.

Slowly conversation died down and all that could be heard was sound of the wind rushing past the windows. Which, of course, brought questions to Syaoran's mind like, what powered the train? Why couldn't he hear the train making contact with the tracks? And other questions he was sure the others would find either boring or annoying.

What should have been hours on the felt more like minutes. Soon they found themselves exiting the train in an urban area. All around the station people bustled about their daily lives. One person stood out from the others. He was sitting on one of the benches that were, otherwise, unoccupied. His clothes we bright blue and trimmed with black, and much to the amusement of all that saw him, he was fast asleep and snoring loudly.

"Ah, it seems our escort has made it." Sanfirith said making a beeline for the dozing person.

He tapped the person on the shoulder and then yelled, "Sleeping on the job soldier?"

There was an immediate and violent reaction from the other. He jolted out of his slumped position and jumped to attention one arm rising into a salute. "Of course not sir! I jus…" he stopped having finally noticed who was in front of him.

"At ease soldier." Sanfirith gave the lazy dismissal.

"Firith? Why do you always do stuff like that?" the guy complained.

"Sanfirith to you." Sanfirith corrected. "I'm guessing you're our guide then rookie?"

"Yeah, they didn't tell me who I was guiding. Something about 'need to know' basis or something. Why do you need guiding anyway? You know this city like…" he seemed to finally notice the group behind Sanfirith.

"We should probably get moving." Sanfirith said with a smile. "It's been a long trip and I'm sure my friends would like to eventually get around to sleeping."

Kurogane huffed at that and muttered, "It's not like we aren't used to traveling by now."

"Right." The soldier said with a note of disappointment. "Let's get going then."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It's beautiful!" Hanada said pausing on one of the many bridges they had crossed. This particular bridge spanned a chasm in between two sections of mountain and a waterfall was cascading from one of the sides. They had found out as they walked that the Ishildan capital, named Linwynne, was actually on the edge of a mountain.

"I take it you've never been to Linwynne before." The guide said dropping back a bit and allowing Sanfirith to take the lead. "Where exactly are you guys from?"

"You know kid." Sanfirith said grabbing the guy's collar. "You suck as a guide. You're supposed to guide us. Stop bothering them with questions."

Syaoran couldn't blame the guy for being curious. Everyone except for Sanfirith and Fai had their hoods up to block their faces. Sanfirith had said it would be better not to take chances since they looked nothing like the people from around here, well except for Kanathia, but she had her hood up for different reasons. He was right, Syaoran had noticed. Most everyone's hair was light blonde or red or some other equally light color. There were very few brunettes, and they were easy to pick out.

"It's amazing." Sakura said as they stepped onto an extremely wide red bridge. In front of them was indeed a marvelous sight. Waterfalls rained down either side of an enormous building that set back about fifty yards from the edge of a cliff. Pillars supported its entrance and in front of it was a beautifully kept garden.

"I can smell the dayshith from here."Kanathia said stepping up beside Sakura.

"The what?" Syaoran asked. Clearly it was a word unique to this country as it hadn't translated.

"It's a flower that blooms only in the imperial gardens." She replied and Syaoran could tell she was smiling. Not that she had mentioned the smell he could detect something sweet in the air.

The guide was watching their small sub-group suspiciously. "This way." He said leading them over the bridge and toward the palace which seemed to grow even larger as they got closer.

Once inside they headed straight for an enormous door set directly at the back of the large entrance hall. It had to be at least ten feet tall.

"Right, um, wait here for a minute." The guy said and went through a door to the side.

Kanathia shifted uncomfortably on her feet. Sanfirith gave her a side-glance. "It must be weird to be back after all this time." He said smiling.

Her hood moved an obvious sign she had nodded. Before their conversation could develop any further the doors in front of them began opening. Inside of them there was a nearly barren room. The only things in it were a red carpet leading to a set of stairs upon which sat a chair. The group followed Sanfirith's lead and began to walk towards the chair and the person sitting in it.

As they got halfway across the ridiculously empty room the person in the chair stood and immediately Sanfirith stopped walking, the only signal that the others should stop as well.

"Sanfirith." The person said and immediately, despite the still rather vast distance, both Syaoran's and Sakura's heads shot up. "I didn't expect you back so soon, but I assume this means…"

"Yes. I found her." Sanfirith said with a grin. Picking Kanathia out of the group Sanfirith immediately steered her forward.

The person began walking forward quickly. It was almost like a dignified run. He had on a particularly complicated robe/coat thing made of silk and something else. As he reached their group he smiled warmly at all of them, but his gaze landed on Kanathia. He lifted a hand and the hood dropped from around her face. He seemed speechless for a moment before he uttered, "Kana."

"Yuki." She replied smiling. Then they were hugging. He twirled her around once and set her back on her feet.

"It's been far too long Kana."

She nodded. "It has." She replied.

"Who are these guests you've brought with you?" he asked to the still hooded group.

Kanathia turned to them. "My friends." She said giving the simplest explanation possible. Hanada removed her hood with just the slightest bit of hesitation.

"Hanada." She said tilting her head in a bit of a bow.

Kanathia gestured to each person in turn as she spoke their names. Those who hadn't removed their hoods followed Hanada's example. "Fai, Syaoran, Sakura, Creshenth, and Kurogane." She said they each gave a small bow or smile to acknowledge their name, except Kurogane who just grunted. "This is my brother, Yukito Tsukishiro. Emperor of Ishilda."

"Please, there's no need for formalities at the moment. Well Fai, Sakura, Syaoran, Kurogane, Creshenth, and Hanada it is a pleasure to have you all here." He gave a bit more emphasis on Hanada's name, mostly likely because she had introduced herself. "Thank you for looking after Kanathia."

"I…" Kanathia interrupted seeming a bit flustered. "I hate to interrupt but…why exactly…did you call me back?"

Yukito frowned. "I…believe that's something we should save for later. For now, why don't we find your guests some rooms?"

Sanfirith caught the hint. "Right, this way guys." He said ushering out the group sans Kanathia. We'll find that brat Osho. He should know where to put you guys."

The doors boomed shut behind them.

"It's amazing." Sakura said happily. "I don't know how I never noticed it before. She's like a miniature version of Yukito. Except for the hair she's identical."

"Well, yes, but how would you have known that before?" Hanada asked confused.

"There's someone who looks exactly like this Yukito where Sakura is from." Syaoran said as Sakura seemed to be fumbling for words. "Actually…his name was Yukito too."

Sakura nodded and gave Syaoran a small smile of thanks. "I wonder if there's a Toya here too." She said hopefully.

"Toya?" Creshenth said the name like it sounded familiar to him.

"What's going on in here?" Sanfirith said opening the door. "What this talk about Toya? Did you guys run into him already? That's weird."

Sakura looked ecstatic. "So there is a Toya here."

"Right…" Sanfirith said more than a little confused. "You guys up for a banquet? They're throwing one for 'The return of Empress Kanathia…and her guests'. Though the last part feels more than a little tacked on."

Hanada laughed at the man's attempt at a joke.

"I'm certainly hungry." Fai offered standing.

"Good." Sanfirith said slapping him on the back. "There's one catch though."

"A royal banquet means royal guests my ass." Kurogane bit out as he was forced out of the room in his new clothes. "Just because royal people will be there doesn't mean I have to dress like I just stepped out of some three year old girl's daydream."

"Oh come on Kuro-pri, it's not so bad." Fai said patting him on the back and then dancing out of the way as Kurogane swung at him.

"Stop being such a drama queen Kuro-ba." Hanada laughed as Kurogane's face darkened at her sudden use of the stupid nicknames.

Kurogane continued to sulk as they entered the 'banquet hall' as Sanfirith had called it. It was amazing. Three long wooden table draped in colorful table cloths. Food piled high, but not so high you couldn't see the person sitting across from you. And there at the one table turned so as to face the others sat Yukito and Kanathia. Kanathia now sported elaborate clothing of Ishilda as well, though hers looked even a bit more fantastic than theirs.

Sakura raised a hand to wave at her and then, realizing the girl wouldn't be able to see her, dropped it. "Don't look so depressed." Sanfirith said nudging her. "I'm sure you'll be able to talk to her after this is all over."

People were bustling about in the room and eventually everyone made their way to a seat. Their group had been placed near the head table. As they began to sit Yukito rose. All talking died away immediately. There were stares being directed their way as they had finally seemed to notice the people in the room who didn't quite fit in.

"Welcome." Yukito said with a smile. "Today is a truly wonderful day, for today, my beloved sister Kanathia has returned to Ishilda."

Polite applause followed Yukito's statement, and all eyes that were not already directed at Kanathia found their way there.

"Some close personal friends of hers escorted her here worried for her safety." Yukito said and turned his body so he was now talking in the group's general direction. "They have my official thanks, and I expect that they should be treated as the royal house's honored guests."

Yukito smiled, and more clapping littered the room, but did not completely muffle the whispers that broke out.

"Now, I believe it is due time to eat." Yukito said with yet another winning smile.

There was bustling as people turned to their meals and servants began to shuffle between tables checking to make sure everyone was satisfied.

"That speech was shorter than I thought it would be." Sanfirith said picking up a bowl of something purplish red and steaming hot and scooping some of its contents onto his plate.

"Does he usually talk longer?" Fai asked gazing at the same bowl with open curiosity.

"Usually we can't get him to shut up." Sanfirith said then seemed to catch himself. "Ah, uh…don't tell anyone I said that…"

Sakura laughed.

Rather than asking what each of the strange looking dishes was Syaoran decided to try them and decide if he liked them by taste. By his third attempt he admitted to himself he probably wouldn't like much of the food that Ishilda had to offer. He did find that the purplish red substance that Sanfirith had put on his own plate was tolerable.

Sanfirith didn't seem to notice the group's hesitance with the food. "I bet he's too worked up about finally seeing Kanathia again and couldn't really think of anything to say." Sanfirith said with a snort.

Hanada shrugged.

"Is something wrong Hana-chan?" Fai asked seeing the shrug.

She shook her head. "No, it's nothing really. I think it's just weird being…well…here…and the people…they aren't really what I was expecting."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked looking up at her with a frown.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Hanada said with a grin that was obviously forced.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxx x

Dinner concluded without much else happening in the group. Soon Yukito was standing again and a hush fell over the gathered diners.

Yukito's smiled flickered for half a second as his eyes travelled over someone near the back of the room. "As most of you know I will soon be leaving to go to the Creitan border. Our countries have long been at war and now, at long last, a peace declaration has been made by their side."

A murmur ran through the crowd.

"It seems that fate has smiled on us. With my sister's return the capital will be left in good hands."

The murmur grew louder. Some people sounded absolutely appalled at the idea.

"It is nothing to worry over." Yukito said a calming voice.

"If I may." A voice called.

All eyes flicked to the speaker as he stepped from his seat to the open floor and gave a small bow toward where Yukito stood. "I think there is a general unrest because your, ehem, sister has not been in the court for many years now." The man said. "I'm sure that most everyone here is wondering how she would know of the countries concerns."

Syaoran was sure he saw a smirk as the man gave another bow.

Yukito was still smiling though now it looked slightly more forced than it had. "My sister, regardless of her rather lengthy absence, was raised in court Duke Thald. She knows how to listen to advisors, and she knows what is best for her country, or had you forgotten why she left for so long?"

Yukito finished his statement with bitingly sweet smile in the man's direction. The man, looking somewhat discouraged, took a seat.

"Many of us," an older woman said stepping in where the man had left off "do indeed remember why the Empress had to leave. Tell me, is she even capable of doing the job with her eyes the way they are?"

Yukito's smile seemed locked in place and the room seemed to be growing colder by the second.

"Oh shit…" Sanfirith muttered.

Syaoran's eyes darted to Sanfirith then back to Yukito.

Just as Yukito seemed ready to reply Kanathia stood and placed a hand on his shoulder. She shook her head just the slightest bit. The tension seemed to leak out of Yukito's stance. Kanathia turned her attention to the woman.

"I'm unable to see." Kanathia said bluntly, but her eyes were still trained on the exact spot where the woman stood. "but that does not make me useless. After all, I made it to Hoenda on my own. I should think that more than proves I'm capable Aunt Aphra."

The woman looked shocked that Kanathia had been able to identify her so easily.

"Does anyone else have any objections?" Yukito asked firmly stepping beside Kanathia.

The hall was silent.

"Very well then." Yukito said and an easy smile graced his lip again. "I shall be retiring for the evening. I do hope everyone enjoyed themselves."

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**Kanathia: A lot happened this chapter.**

**Tsubasa Falls: I know, I had a bit of difficulty writing Yukito…he's just such a nice guy and people ruling countries aren't usually that easy going.**

**Kanathia: Power changes people anyway.**

**Tsubasa Falls: That's true, like that one time I got to lead a class discussion. Oh the power rush!**

**Kanathia: …right.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Ehem…well…uh, drop a review guys, we've only got like five or six it's…a bit disheartening really.**

**Kanathia: That it is, but we won't stop writing from lack of reviews.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Oh! Of course not! I enjoy writing this too much to do that.**

**Kanathia: Right. Well, updates once a week from now on thanks to an increase in my workload. (that's still more often than most fics update so I don't feel too bad) 'til next time!**

**~Kanathia & Tsubasa Falls**


	9. Chapter 9

** 9: Chapter 8**

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**Tsubasa Falls: And so after reviewing my notes for this fic I've come to the conclusion we're drawing to the end.**

**Kanathia: Already?**

**Tsubasa Falls: Already indeed. There might be another three or four chapters, possibly five, unless I decide to add anything else to the story. Holy hell this went by fast.**

**Kanathia: That it did. On to the chapter.**

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"Jeez that lady was rude!" Hanada huffed as they entered the group's room. "Who does she think she is talking like that about Kana?"

"I know right?" Creshenth said plopping down onto his claimed bed. "If I ever see her again I'll-"

"Be perfectly civil and hold your tongue." Sanfirith interrupted. "There's more at stake here than your feelings. Saying or doing anything to a noble would get you thrown in jail and would look bad for Kanathia."

Creshenth closed his mouth looking suddenly meek.

"Were all those people nobles?" Sakura asked remembering the large number of people in attendance.

"For the most part, yes." Sanfirith answered undoing several of the clasps on his jacket. "It was last minute so really I'm surprised even that many showed up. I expect that a festival will be thrown for her by the people once the word spreads that she's back."

"That sounds like fun." Sakura said with a smile.

"That woman, the one who spoke in the hall, who was she?" Syaoran asked frowning.

"The Duchess Aphra of Maldove. She's Yukito's and Kanathia's aunt, not that it shows in the way she treats them." Sanfirith said with a snort. "The woman's been holding a grudge against them since Yukito was named the heir to the throne instead of her children."

"Oh, you're on first name basis with the emperor?" Fai said with a knowing smile. "Are you two close?"

Sanfirith sent a hard glare back at the mage. "We met shortly after Kanathia left. If you're trying to imply something-"

Fai waved his hands in the air slowly as if to cal the man before he could start ranting. "Of course I'm not insinuating anything."

A knock interrupted whatever Sanfirith had been about to say. The door opened to reveal a guy about six feet tall with short black hair and a smug look on his face. "Toya?" Sanfirith said turning to face him.

Sakura's eyes lit up, but she resisted whatever urge had built up inside of her at the sight of her brother's lookalike.

"I heard we had guests." Toya said with a smug smile. "I missed the dinner, but I figured I should meet them anyway."

"Good timing as always." A voice behind Toya said with a laugh.

Toya turned and the group could just see Yukito standing there with a friendly smile.

"Well this is weird." Sanfirith said putting his hands on his hips. "Don't they usually have you detained in the hall at this time?"

"It seems Kanathia's unexpected return has earned me a short reprieve from the endless work. Either that or my advisors are too afraid to approach me after what happened at dinner." Yukito said a smile that showed he clearly knew how frightening he had been in the hall earlier.

"Oh man, I always miss the interesting dinners." Toya complained, but he moved to the side to allow Yukito, and Kanathia who had been standing just to his side, access to the room.

"Kana." Hanada said and hugged the girl.

Yukito smiled at the embracing pair. "I'm glad to see that my sister found people she could trust in Hoenda. I have to admit I had been worried."

"Whoa, wait." Toya said taking his place beside Yukito. "That's Kanathia? That's the little girl I used to tease for always getting things stuck in her hair?"

Toya's playful banter caused Yukito to laugh, but Creshenth was scowling.

"It's good to see you again too Toya." Kanathia said with just the slightest of frowns.

Toya frowned. "Still as proper as ever kiddo. Aren't ya?"

Kanathia turned her head away as if insulted, but everyone there could tell she wasn't offended.

"Now, now Toya." Yukito admonished. "You shouldn't pick on her too much."

Syaoran glanced over at Sakura when he heard those words. He knew that the Yukito from Clow used to say that exact phrase when Toya was picking on Sakura. Sakura was smiling, but her eyes looked distant. While Syaoran had been looking at Sakura Kanathia had apparently begun introducing everyone.

"You know, it's weird," Toya said gazing at Sakura. "I know we've never met, but I feel like I know you."

"Don't go hitting on people in my presence." Sanfirith said with another derisive snort. "I think it'll make me sick."

"I'm not hitting on people." Toya said with a grimace, and Syaoran could swear he saw Toya's eyes flick to Yukito's unwavering smile.

"Yeah, yeah whatever." Sanfirith waved it away. "So what did you come down here for anyway?"

The question was directed at Yukito.

The smile wavered for a minute then dropped to be replaced by a worried glance at Kanathia. "Ah, well, that's not exactly easy to explain." Yukito said then glanced at Kurogane. "Kanathia told me that your group was protecting her."

Kurogane gave a curt nod.

"I don't mean to impose, but might I ask you to continue to do so for a bit longer?"

"Yukito!" Sanfirith sounded insulted. "We have an entire army. What difference will their group make?"

Yukito shook his head. "That's the thing Firith. Shortly after you left an attempt was made on my life. Several of our comrades died. When I leave for the border I will be taking a lot of the people who would normally protect the capital and its people with me. It would be the perfect time for an enemy to strike."

"You think it's a trap?" Fai supplied.

Yukito shook his head. "I know it's a trap, but that doesn't change the fact that I have to do it. Without this treaty Ishilda is looking at a full blown war with Creta. It would mean the deaths of thousands, if not millions of innocent people."

A dark silence fell on the room.

"I don't know about the others," Hanada said suddenly. "But I'm staying."

"Hana…"Kanathia started to object.

"She's right Kana. I'm staying too." Creshenth said. "We wouldn't leave here knowing you would be in trouble. What kind of friends would that make us?"

"I don't think we have any reason to leave either." Fai said happily as he glanced around at the small sub group of theirs.

Syaoran nodded. "We can stay." He said.

Yukito was beaming.

"Wonderful." Sanfirith muttered. "More brats."

"Now, now Sanfirith." Toya said mockingly. "Try to contain your joy."

XXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxx

They had spent several hours like that, talking about what was to come. Eventually everyone went off to their separate sleeping quarters for a nights rest. It was certainly needed as the next morning they found themselves bombarded with people.

Sanfirith hadn't been wrong in saying that the city would hold a festival. In fact, if anything, the word festival seemed an understatement.

Colorful bits of paper rained from the sky. Music was everywhere. People shouted, and danced, and ran. It was truly marvelous. Even people like Kurogane who were clearly different from the others were greeted kindly and given flowers and made to dance with others. In fact, it seemed to happen to Kurogane the most, probably because he stuck out. Although he always seemed to escape before they could force him to dance.

Eventually they dissected into smaller groups. Kurogane and Fai went off one way while Hanada pulled Syaoran in another, leaving Sakura and Creshenth alone. Every once in awhile they would stop and watch performers doing stunts or performing magic. Creshenth seemed absolutely flabbergasted by the sights.

"I never pictured Ishilda to be like this." Creshenth said as more food was given to them, every vendor in the city seemed to be giving out free food and any time they passed one food was shoved into their hands and they were patted on the back.

"It's beautiful." Sakura said from beside him as she watched a magician turn the falling scraps of colored paper into snow.

"Are you enjoying yourselves?" a familiar voice asked.

"Oh, you're that guy who led us to the palace." Creshenth said leaning back against the seat he had found.

"Osho, right?" Sakura asked smiling.

"That's right." The guy answered with his own smile.

"I barely recognized you without the uniform." Creshenth said shoving another bite of some weird kind of meat in his mouth.

"I barely recognized you two without hoods covering your faces." Osho joked. "Then again, even in a city this big it's still pretty easy to pick out outsiders when you know what to look for."

Sakura was gazing at a performer who was currently balancing on a huge ball while juggling no less than fifteen sharp knives.

"I have to admit, I never thought I was escorting the empress." Osho said laughing at the bewildered expression on Sakura's face as the performer caught one of the knives mid-flight in his mouth.

Creshenth snorted, but didn't voice his disapproval of the boy's attention.

"Were you two planning on heading down to hear the empresses specch?" Osho asked smiling.

"She's giving a speech?" Sakura said looking delighted at the idea.

"You didn't know? She should be starting any time now. Should I show you to the area where it'll happen?"

Creshenth jumped down from where he'd been. "Sure, lead the way."

"I'm telling you Kuro-puppy we should ask for directions." Fai said for the tenth time.

Somehow the two had ended up on the outskirts of town and while the view was amazing, as they were surrounded waterfalls and arched purple bridges, they had absolutely no idea how to get back to the palace.

"For the last time mage stop with those stupid nick names, and we aren't lost. I just happen to enjoy not being in loud crowded places." Kurogane said with a huff turning down an alley.

Fai followed at a leisurely pace. Kurogane grunted at a woman who tried to hand him a yellow flower and she took a step back clearly afraid.

"Oh, don't mind him." Fai said cheerfully intercepting the lady and gently taking the offered flower. "He's not much of a people person."

She offered a weak smile and wave as they walked off.

"What are you going to do with that?" Kurogane said eying the flower. "People have been handing the things to us all day."

Fai smiled knowingly. "Perhaps I'll find a beautiful young lady to give it to."

XXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Miss Hanada." Syaoran said finally managing to get his hand free of hers. They had been wandering around all morning that way. "Why exactly did you pull me along with you?"

"Hmm?" she said looking around. "No reason really."

Syaoran knew there had to be some reason behind her dragging him along, but he didn't dwell on it. In fact it was rather hard to considering where they were.

"It's really pretty." Hanada said watching the performers

Syaoran nodded, but he was watching her face rather than the crowds. Despite the cheerful tone of her voice she wasn't smiling. "Is something wrong Miss Hanada?"

A man with a bouquet of flowers handed one to Hanada and offered a compliment before moving along the street. She twirled its stem in her fingers. "This place is beautiful, and the people are so nice." She said gazing around them. "I don't know how Kana could stand living in Hoenda."

Syaoran wasn't surprised by the statement. He somehow knew that Hanada had been thinking it since the day before. He placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her away from the swarming people to a slightly more secluded area which, upon further inspection, turned out to be a bookstore that was closed for the day due to the festivities. "You shouldn't think about it that way." He said. "Comparing Hoenda and Ishilda is like comparing that flower you're holding to an expensive necklace. One seems to be the clear choice, but both are beautiful for completely different reasons." He paused seeming to think his next statement over. "If you're worried about how people were treating her in Hoenda…I wouldn't. When you're surrounded by unpleasant things even the smallest bit of kindness seems much brighter. I'm sure she has more memories of you and Creshenth helping her than she does of the people who disliked her."

Hanada was watching him with sad eyes. "You sound like you know things these things from experience."

Syaoran just nodded, not quite meeting her eyes. "We've been wandering around all morning." He said and suddenly there was a kind smile on his lips. "Perhaps we should find the others now?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You'll do wonderfully. I'm sure of it." Yukito tried to reassure her for what felt like the hundredth time.

Kanathia wasn't so sure. She felt queasy. She hadn't spoken in front of an audience this large in nearly six years. She had forgotten how nerve wracking it could be.

Still, she was due to give a speech and that's what she would do. She stepped out from behind the curtains heading for the stage.

Cheering rang up to greet her as she stepped onto the raised platform in the city's square. Somewhere, far off in the back, she could swear she almost felt Hanada's energy. She smiled just a bit at the thought of her friend, and then opened her mouth and let the first words that came to her ring forth to the excited masses.

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**Tsubasa Falls: Why did I end it here? Because I wanted to end on a high note and things are about to get reeeeeeally nasty.**

**Kanathia: Don't give too much away.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Aw, but it's not fun not to give stuff away. :/**

**Kanathia: Oh well, honestly there's still one plot point left that I'm not sure which way to go with.**

**Tsubasa Falls: We could leave it up to the readers! This is a point that either goes one way or another. So how about readers drop us a review and vote either A or B in it, since we don't want to actually tell you guys what it is. That would spoil the surprise XD.**

**Kanathia: That's actually a decent idea. I'm impressed. We'll leave voting open until that point comes into play so I'm going to estimate there are about two chapters before it happens.**

**Tsubasa Falls: Sounds about right. So drop a review of either A or B. You won't know what you're voting for, but we will honor the votes even if we only get one.**

**Kanathia: That we will. With that being said, 'til next time!**

**~Kanathia &Tsubasa Falls**


	10. Chapter 10

**10: Chapter 9**

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**Tsubasa Falls: Another week another chapter.**

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Barely three days after the festival held for Kanathia's return Yukito set out for the border. There were tears, and people stood in the streets throwing flower petals in the air wishing him the best of luck. Through it all the group simply watched from the palace. Kanathia had been unable to follow so most of them had stuck with her. After all they had already been to a festival not that long ago. Fai and Kurogane were the only two that left. Kurogane having claimed he was bored and Fai tagging along as he often did.

The rest of the group watched as the parade of people slowly moved out of sight into the city. Kanathia left out a sigh as they rounded the final corner that blocked them from view.

"Are you alright Kana?" Hanada said glancing over at her friend.

Kanathia just nodded and then turned to leave. She saw no point in standing around all day.

XXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x

"So where did you want to go exploring today?" Fai asked as he waved at another group of people that he caught staring at the out-of-place Kurogane.

Kurogane grunted. A typical response from the man, not that it explained much. Fai folded his arms behind his head with a smile.

"You know Kuro-pu I think you're getting quite a few admirers here." Fai said nodding toward a few girls that were watching them with probing eyes.

"Stop with the weird nicknames mage." Kurogane forced back turning another corner. It was past midday now and Kurogane was trying to find his way back to the palace with no luck.

"Are we lost again Kuro-pi?" Fai asked peering down an alley they past and coming up short.

"No! Now stop with the…" Kurogane started to object before he realized that Fai had stopped. He turned back inquisitively. "What's wrong with you?"

Fai had moved to the side and was looking down the alley was open curiosity. Kurogane caught sight of the person Fai had spotted and stopped. "Isn't that the kid who led us to the palace when we got here?"

Fai nodded raising his hand and opening his mouth to call out only to falter when the boy was joined in the alley by two other men, each wearing black outfits that made them nearly blend into the shadows. It was a far cry different from the bright clothing of Ishilda that they had grown used to seeing over the past few days.

"Is everything done?" asked one of the two men.

The boy, Osho, nodded. Then a grin split his face. "We had good luck with the empress coming back right now. We don't have to go looking for her now. Is Hado already at the palace?"

The other of the two men nodded. "He left an hour ago so I assume he's getting in place."

"Good." Osho said then he frowned. "Now remember, we can't strike until the Emperor is far enough away that he can't simply turn back. I'd say another six hours at the least. We don't want the news to reach him before he's nearly at the border. By then it'll be too late for him to send back forces."

"Right." The other two agreed.

"The Cretian's have already held up their end of the deal?" Osho asked.

One of the other men nodded then tensed. His head swiveled from side to side until it came to a rest on Fai's blonde head. Osho and the other man followed his gaze, and Osho's frown turned into a scowl.

Fai, realizing he'd been spotted rubbed the back of his head and moved away from the wall with a sort of apologetic smile. "Ah, sorry, Osho right?" Fai said still smiling although he was watching the three with great interest.

Osho tensed then relaxed. It was clear to Kurogane who was leaning against the wall that Osho wasn't sure how much they had heard and thought that he could still play the whole thing off. "You were with the group I led to the palace?" Osho asked with a small smile.

Fai nodded. "Did I interrupt something?"

Osho glanced over at the men. "Nothing too important." Osho said with a forced smile. "Did you need something?"

Fai looked thoughtful and Kurogane tried not to scoff. "Perhaps directions?" Fai said coming out of his supposed reverie. "We're a bit lost, can't seem to find our way back to the palace."

"We?" Osho repeated and then finally seemed to catch sight of Kurogane standing in the shadows. He jumped. The men behind him tensed. Kurogane's eyes flicked to the two men.

"If they draw those blades I'm not guaranteeing their lives." He snorted.

"Now, now Kuro-pu." Fai said placating. "I'm sure they only have the best of intentions."

Kurogane tried not to laugh, but a thin smile still crept onto his face; which was instantly replaced by a scowl when he realized Fai had used one of his ridiculous nicknames again.

"Right, well, directions." Osho said. "You'll want to go straight up this road you were on then take the second bridged on your right. Turn left and follow that road until you see…" Osho trailed off as the two men he was with stepped closer and put wary hands on katanas that were strapped to their sides. "What are you doing?" Osho asked the two with just a hint of panic in his voice.

"I know you can't tell," one of them started, "but these guys aren't exactly normal. We've been hearing rumors that the Emperor hired extra body guards. These are probably them."

Osho looked at Fai and Kurogane with a bit of bewilderment. Then he stepped back and pulled a knife from under his jacket. The amused twinkle in Fai's eyes was slowly going away to be replaced with an assessing gleam, but the smile remained intact.

"I warned you about drawing blades." Kurogane said pushing himself from the wall.

XXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It's nearly dinner time." Creshenth complained. "Where exactly did those two wander off to?"

Syaoran shrugged. "We've only been here for a few days. Chances are they got lost in the city. It is a bit confusing."

Sakura nodded. She had no idea how anyone found their way in this city.

"Do we really have to wait for them to get back before eating Kana?" Creshenth whined. "I'm starving."

Kanathia said nothing continuing to walk toward a destination unknown to the rest of the group.

"Stop complaining Creshenth." Hanada reprimanded frowning. "Jeez, I swear you've done nothing but complain since we left Hoenda."

Creshenth stuck his tongue out at her, but stopped talking nonetheless.

Kanathia stopped walking suddenly causing most everyone in the group to bump into each other. Her head tilted to the side as if she couldn't quite figure out something. Without warning a figure fell from the shadows above them. Syaoran watched its descent with wide eyes and snapped into action before the rest of the group had even registered what was happening.

To Syaoran the intended target was clear. Kanathia. He shoved her roughly out of the way sorry that he didn't have more time to make sure she didn't injure herself. A shriek went through the air, and he was unsure whether it was Hanada or Sakura. A knife flashed from under within the black clad hands and Syaoran watched as it struck right where Kanathia's heart would have been and right where his right thigh was now. He grimaced as the blade buried itself in his leg, but whipped around and grabbed the person's wrist managing to keep the wound from becoming worse. Without a thought he struck with the back of his hand and hit the back of the figure's neck. Immediately they went limp and fell to the floor.

Syaoran staggered back sure he had disabled the threat. He sank to the floor examining his now bleeding thigh. The rest of the group seemed to be coming out of their momentary shock. Hanada hustled to his side. "Holy crap kid. Where did you learn to do something like that?" she said wide eyed as she looked at the knife.

Creshenth had made his way to Kanathia who had propped herself up on the floor and was swinging her head around in confusion. Finally her eyes landed on Syaoran. "Syaoran." She said his name with a weird inflection. "Are you alright?"

Sakura, who had been kneeling next to the unconscious assailant, looked his way as well.

Syaoran nodded just the slightest bit. "I'll be fine. It's not the bad." He said tugging the knife from his wound and tearing off the bottom of his robe to bandage it.

Hanada knocked him backwards in a hug startling him. He felt his cheeks getting warm as blush slowly crept across them. "Ah, um, Miss Hanada…why…"

"Thank you." Hanada said pushing back onto her knees and helping him back up. "You saved Kana's life. You deserve at least a hug right?" she said beaming. Then she grabbed the ripped part of his robe which he'd dropped upon being tackled and started to bandage his wound.

When she was done she stood and offered him a hand. "Do you think you'll be able to walk?"

Syaoran nodded trying to hide his crimson face.

Hanada dropped back and helped Creshenth lift the would-be assassin off the ground. "We should probably get to a place with more guards in case there are more of these guys hiding around." Creshenth suggested as they walked.

XXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Holy hell." Sanfirith said as he took in the group which had just entered the dining room. "What happened?"

Syaoran immediately sat down looking a bit pale. Creshenth and Hanada sat their charge down in the chair next to him. "This person attacked Kana." Creshenth said with disdain. "We should probably…"

A long groan cut him off. The assassin's eyes flickered open. Syaoran was the first to move again, but this time he pushed his chair just slightly further away from the person and in front of Kanathia and Sakura.

Sanfirith stepped forward and removed the mask covering the assassin's face. Pale skin and red hair on a very feminine face surprised most of them. Only Syaoran, Sanfirith, and Kanathia seemed unfazed. Though the latter might be because she couldn't see what had left the others ruffled.

"Who are you?" Sanfirith said and twitched a finger causing ropes to constrict the girl before them.

She just glared back. Then she turned her gaze on Syaoran. "I see the Ishildan military is recruiting younger than I remember." She said haughtily.

Syaoran blinked. It wasn't technically true, but there wasn't really a reason to correct her either.

Sanfirith opened his mouth to ask another question, but was cut off by the door at one end of the dining hall banging open. In shuffled a disheveled Kurogane and a smiling but slightly worn out looking Fai.

"Ah, there you are." Creshenth said frowning. "We thought you got lost again."

Fai straightened up a bit smile still gracing his face. "We were." He said simply. "However, that nice young man who led us here on-"

"Nice?" Kurogane interrupted scowling. "He attacked us? What the hell was so nice about him?"

Fai grinned back. "Well he did give us directions before the fight."

Kurogane scowled more deeply.

"You guys were attacked also?" Sakura said rushing forward as though to help them if they were injured.

"Also?" Kurogane repeated then his eyes fell on the woman in the chair and then they continued to Syaoran's leg. "You let yourself get injured kid?"

Syaoran opened his mouth to reply only to be cut off by Hanada. "He got injured saving Kana's life. I'll not have you mocking him." She said and then turned up her nose at him.

Fai chuckled. "Not very good with the ladies are you Kuro-pu?"

Kurogane looked ready to bash Fai's brains in, but a snicker from the captive stopped everyone.

Sanfirith redirected his attention from the two who had just entered to the girl. "I don't suppose you're going to make this easy and just tell me who sent you?"

Once again his only response was a glare. A small beep filled the room issuing from somewhere near the girl's wrist. A wide smile stretched across her face. "Time's up." She said simply.

Her words were punctuated with ringing explosions that were far too close for comfort. The ground shook and whatever power source had been lighting the room went out.

Screams rent the air as stone began to fall. More explosions continued and smoke clogged everyone's lungs and made visibility near zero.

Above all the commotion everyone could hear Sanfirith shouting orders to get outside through some door he said was on the back wall.

The floor tilted. It was only then that the thought that this palace was built on the mountain side seemed to go through Syaoran's mind. He called out for anyone. He didn't just want to get himself out after all. He knew Sakura would be fine. She had been standing right next to Fai and Kurogane. They would see to her safety. He was sure that Kanathia was in good hands as well seeing as Sanfirith wouldn't simply let her die on his watch, but the other two were just civilians. They had no training in the martial arts or anything else for the matter.

He called out again and this time got a response. Through the haze he could just barely make out Hanada. He grabbed her arm and started to pull her toward where the door Sanfirith had been shouting about should be located. His hands searched through the air until they felt stone. The rumbling around them grew louder and he swore he felt the floor tilt further. He pulled Hanada closer and yelled, "Look for the door." He assumed that's what she was trying to do as she fumbled through the near blinding darkness. He found it first though. Someone had, thankfully, left it open. His fingers curved around the doorway and he reached back for Hanada's arm. He glanced all around him looking to see if there was anyone else he could, but seeing no one he pulled her toward the door.

They slowly groped their way down the hallway until it started to lighten and then they both broke into a sprint. The passage was soon lit by torches and then by daylight. Finally they made it to the end and stood gasping for breath on a ledge high over looking where the palace was. Or, more precisely, what was left of the palace. The place was in ruins. Fire and smoke rose from the collapsing building and some parts that were closer to the edge were slowly falling into the seemingly endless pit that lay between this mountain and the next where the city was.

"You're blocking the tunnel." Someone said behind Syaoran startling him. It was a maid and she was absolutely covered in soot. He moved out of the way as she and another girl rushed past them onto the ledge which he could now see gradually widened into a large clearing. He led Hanada that way. Only seven people stood there not including himself and Hanada. Sakura, Fai, Kurogane, Kanathia, Sanfirith, and the two girls. Syaoran's breath caught in his chest and Hanada seemed to realize what he did just as they reached the group.

"Creshenth!" Hanada screamed. "Where is Creshenth?"

Sanfirith looked down at Kanathia who now looked panicked. Both made a run for the passage. Sanfirith restrained Kanathia and, surprisingly, Kurogane grabbed hold of Hanada. The rumbling grew louder still and for a moment it seemed that even their spot far above the carnage wouldn't go untouched as the passage spewed out flames and smoke, but then it died down, and they were left standing there realizing that there was no way that Creshenth would be making his way out of that passage.

Hanada stared horror-struck at the opening, and then back to Kanathia who just then began to cry.

**Tsubasa Falls: The second half of this chapter is the brainchild of Kana, because eI had no idea how to write dramatic things. The first character death too. It's always sad when a character dies, even if you didn't particularly like them. I did warn in the last chapter that this was going to get a bit more serious though.**

**Kanathia: It certainly was a bit of a jump. Last chapter ended with happy faces and a festival. This one ended with death and destruction, but death is jarring I suppose.**

**Tsubasa Falls: That it is. Well, voting is still up, not that we've actually any votes on the comments. Remember all you have to do is say "A" or "B". I recommend voting if you don't like unnecessary character deaths. Because *hint hint* That's sort of what it's for.**

**Kanathia: Well, on that morbid note we leave you. 'Til next time.**

**Kanathia & Tsubasa Falls**


	11. Chapter 11

** 11: Chapter 10**

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**Kanathia: I apologize for this chapter taking so long to be published. (Nearly three times as long as usual) It's not due to a writer's block on either of our ends, nor a will to stop writing the story. It is a simple matter of life. I've not asked TsubasaFalls to provide commentary for this chapter as I wanted to get it out sooner even if by only a day. That being said, enjoy.**

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Kanathia collapsed to her knees, her face torn between shock and utter horror. Hanada was clinging to Kurogane bawling, and though he looked highly uncomfortable he didn't attempt to remove her. A general air of depression and solemnity had fallen over the group.

They stood there allowing the two friends, and now Sakura who had joined Kanathia, their time to mourn. More suddenly than Sakura had been prepared for, Kanathia stood effectively removing the girl's hands from her shoulders. She turned to the large opening in the rock through which smoke was still visibly rising from the now settling ruins of the palace.

"I have to get down there." She said throwing a meaningful glance in Sanfirith's direction. He nodded.

"We need to find who caused this explosion, and who tried to assassinate you." He said matter-of-factly. It was almost as if he were giving the time of the day.

"We might be able to help with that." Fai offered raising his hand with a small sad smile.

Sanfirith and Kanathia turned to him, and a scowl had settled on the soldier's face. Fai made no comment on his obviously distrusting attitude. "When Kuro-pu and I got lost early we ran into Osho. We overheard him talking about working with Cretians."

"Cretians?" Sanfirith yelled. "Those backstabbing bastards!"

Kanathia placed a hand on his shoulder, a small gesture with an obvious meaning, 'calm down'. "Getting worked up will not help us get to the truth of this matter. We need to think logically. It is also imperative we send word to my brother."

"What about that magic thing you did to announce our arrival?" Fai offered turning to Sanfirith.

Sanfirith shook his head. "It can only go short distances, and the guards he brought will have set up wards. We'll have to send a messenger."

"The people who did this will most likely try to assassinate Yukito as well right?" Syaoran said.

Sanfirith nodded thrown off by the boy's question as it had seemingly come out of nowhere. "Hence the messenger. We have to-"

"They won't want a messenger to reach him will they?" Syaoran prodded.

"Right." Sanfirith said catching on. "So they'll most likely try to take out the messenger. Shit! That makes this a bit more…"

Kanathia shook her head as he trailed off. "We can talk about this later. I need to make sure the people do not panic. We need to be down there." She gestured to the approximate area where palace ruins ended.

Sure enough there was a large crowd of people gathering on and around the bridge that led to the palace. Some people in bright red robes were running in and out of the rubble, like a primitive fire department.

Eventually one of the two maids who had made it out with the group found another tunnel that led back down the mountain. Sanfirith and Fai had scouted to make sure it hadn't collapsed and there was no one laying in wait for them before the group made their way down.

When they were within sight of the gathered people murmurs broke out followed by cheers as Kanathia gave them a half-hearted wave.

More than a few of the red-robed people flocked to them checking for injuries and leading them safely away from the still flaming bit of the palace which were being doused with water spells. As they reached the bridge, and one of the more pushy firefighters insisted on seeing Syaoran's leg for the umpteenth time, several of Kanathia's 'advisor's' made their presence known.

She calmly, or at least as calmly as she could given the present circumstances, explained the current situation.

"Who should we send?" One of the aged men asked when she mentioned sending a messenger.

A hailstorm of suggestions came from the others. Kanathia silenced the flood with just a lift of her hand. "We need someone fast, but strong, and with knowledge of how to locate my brother."

A young woman stepped forward. She couldn't be any older than Kanathia herself, but she held the air of someone older. "I'm fast." She said with an air of what bordered on arrogance tempered with reverence for who she spoke to. "And I'm one of the few people Yukito saw fit to tell his path to. I'm confident I can reach Yukito before his meeting in two days time if I leave immediately. But I-"

"You lack strength?" Kanathia offered, but a small smile accompanied the statement, it was clear she wasn't trying to be harsh. "But of course Yukito told you. You are our cousin Seera, regardless of your mother's distaste for such." She frowned just a bit. "You'll need someone to protect you." She looked to Sanfirith, but he shook his head.

"Absolutely not." He said frowning. "Your brother left me behind with the order to protect you. Now that half the police guards have been wiped out it's even more imperative I do so."

Several of the advisors nodded in agreement.

"I'll go." Kurogane stepped forward finally detaching Hanada from his arm.

"But Kurogane," Syaoran countered glancing at Sakura who was carrying a rather silent Mokona. "Mokona's trans-"

"I don't need to speak the language to swing a sword." Kurogane cut in scowling as usual.

A look of understanding crossed Kanathia's face. She looked to her cousin. "You can still cast translation spells?"

Seera nodded though she looked mildly confused.

"If it is not too much to ask," Kanathia started glancing first at Mokona and then at Kurogane. "I would appreciate it if you to accompanied Seera. Seera, he will need a translation spell."

Seera nodded again this time looking even more confused. To her it seemed the man was speaking their language flawlessly.

"Well that solves one problem." One of the advisors sighed.

"Supplies?" Seera asked frowning at the man who had spoken.

Kanathia nodded to one of the group of advisors who nodded back before motioning for Seera and Kurogane to follow him. They obliged.

"What should we do about all this?" asked a disheveled looking middle aged man who motioned to the palace behind her.

"Increase the search parties. I want every person trapped in there found. Find every able bodied magic user and have them gather here. Get word out that the city is in a state of emergency."

It was a long two days that followed the attack on the palace. Finally all the fires had been put out and many people had been found. Creshenth hadn't been among the dead who were found, but neither had he been among the living. The locator spells, which most of the magic users were proficient in, were great for finding those who were trapped alive; as they worked on body heat however, locating corpses was proving a bit more difficult as time passed.

Hanada seemed hopeful that Creshenth would be found trapped in the rubble somewhere. Kanathia didn't seem as optimistic. Every time there was a brief reprieve from directing people or helping Syaoran had found her staring at the slowly amassing dead with a reserved but clearly disheartened expression.

As the third day dawned word seemed finally to have made it out of the capital about the bombing. People from all over the country were slowly filtering to the capital for various reasons. Some came seeking relatives that lived there, others came to see the destruction with their own eyes, still more came to help with reconstruction or to join the army will had suffered a major hit in the bombing.

Those in the last group were a welcome help especially since Kanathia's survival was also starting to spread. If not for the newcomers they would have had to drop the guards from the outermost sections of the city and pull back to protect the center. As it was now they had just enough to manage.

Sakura and Syaoran were bustling around tending to the injured when a loud crash had everyone in the area turning their heads. Kanathia was there kneeling and looking more than a little dazed. Sanfirith was instantly at her side helping her up and scolding. "Kanathia, you need to sleep, you're of no use to anyone this way. A leader needs a clear mind to make decisions."

Syaoran silently agreed as Sanfirith attempted to lead the girl away. It was doing no good for her to stay up for days on end even if she felt guilty for what was happening to these people. Then again he supposed that having an entire country's welfare on your shoulders might make one a bit unreasonable. He turned to Sakura who was frowning. She had become a bit more willing to spend time around him since the bombing, not that he had blamed her for avoiding him before. He understood why it was most likely painful for her to be near him.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Sakura asked eying the receding back of Kanathia.

"I think so." Syaoran said and gave her just the smallest of smiles. "If he can convince her to get some rest that is."

Toya was happy to be invited along with Yukito's entourage that headed for the border. He was, of course, asked to wait outside of the meeting when Yukito had gone in. He was bored now watching the horizon in the direction that he decided Linwynne would be in. It was, to his surprise, that he spotted figures there. Figures, that were approaching rapidly.

He stood quickly drawing the attention of one of Yukito's guards who had also remained out of the meeting. The man gave Toya a questioning glance. Toya just shielded his eyes and tried to see who was approaching them. "We have company." He voiced as he could finally start to make out details.

The guard popped up out of his seat at that announcement eying the area Toya was already watching with renewed interest. Toya whistled recognizing the two. "Well I'll be damned." He said with a smirk. "If it isn't the emperor's cousin."

The guard relaxed just the slightest bit.

"I wouldn't relax too much." Toya said sparing him a glance. "If she's here I doubt it's for any good reason."

He extended a hand to flag them down and watched as they altered their course just the slightest bit to head his way.

"Well this is certainly surprising wha-" Toya started only to be interrupted.

"Save the antics for later." Seera said snidely though she was trying to catch her breath. "My cousin, where is he?"

Toya stared at her and Kurogane for a good few minutes before he said anything. The guard had stepped up beside him in a defensive manner. "Why should I tell you?" Toya asked eying the two with thinly veiled suspicion.

"There's been an attack on Linwynne. The palace was bombed." Seera said narrowing her eyes. "Is that enough information for you to let me through to him?"

Toya certainly looked awestruck for the half moment it took him to recover. "Normally I'd yes, but right now he's in the middle of peace negotiations."

"Peace negotiations with the very people responsible." She snapped back.

This time Toya didn't have a response. Instead he stared at her as if assessing her for lying before he turned and headed for a door of to the side which he had been leaning next to earlier. Without of word he slipped through it and the other three followed. The guard kept his hand on his sword the whole time and Kurogane watched him warily.

Toya knocked three times on another door down the hall and it was opened another guard who looked surprised, nervous, and angry all at the same time. Before he could say anything Toya spoke. "Sorry to interrupt." Toya's gaze went past the guard into the room. "We have news from Linwynne that's a bit pressing."

The guard stepped back to allow them in, and all of them passed unhindered into the large ornate room. Large poufy pillows littered and floor and in the center of the room was a table that was low to the floor. At said table were two people. Besides the two and the group that had just entered there were only four others in the room. Two guards for each country's leader. The Cretian emperor, a man who looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties with long black hair and a rather…flamboyant outfit, turned his gaze to the new arrivals with more than a little curiosity.

Yukito too turned and immediately recognition flickered in his eyes as they landed on Seera and Kurogane. A small frown graced his lips. "I apologize for the interruption Al Cid. However, I believe that matter may be urgent. May we resume our discussions in a few minutes?"

"If it is urgent it cannot be helped." The man responded with a small smile and nod of his head. "I believe a small break was in order anyway. It's nearly midday."

Yukito returned the smile in earnest. "Yes, a short break then, and perhaps a meal. I hear that Creta has quite a few dishes unique to its regions. Perhaps I would be lucky enough to try some of them?"

Al Cid looked almost excited by the thought of getting the other emperor to try his country's dishes and allowed himself to be led from the room by one of the guards.

Yukito stood looking none too pleased. "What has happened?" he asked eyes wary.

Seera tilted her head down. "The palace was bombed Yukito." She said straightforwardly. "And an attempt was made on your sister's life."

Yukito opened his mouth to ask a question.

"She's is alright, a little scuffed up from being caught in the explosion, but no worse than light scrapes."

Yukito nodded. "Thank heaven for small graces." He said looking grateful for his sister's well being. "Is there any other news? The death tolls?"

Seera shook her head. "We left the city almost immediately after the attack. We wanted to get word to you immediately. We were…delayed. More than one set of attackers hailed on the way."

"Why were they so bent on stopping you? There's not much I can do here."

Seera looked a tad hesitant, but then she spoke. "The attackers…they were Cretian."

Yukito blinked a few times, the only sign he was trying to compose himself. "I see."

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Reports were flying in to the hastily constructed command center. Luckily Sanfirith had convinced Kanathia to sleep, but unluckily just hours afterward attacks were popping up. At the moment they were fending them off well enough, but their forces were too wide spread. They needed to retreat. There was no other option. With most of the army dead or gone with Yukito's personal guard there was little else they could do.

Sanfirith sighed. He needed to wake Kanathia. He turned only to nearly jump out of his skin when he realized she was right behind him. A guarded expression masked her face.

"Kanathia I was-"

"What's happened?" she said her eyes going past him. "I can hear explosions and gunfire."

"I was just about to wake you." He said regaining his composure. "There have been organized attacks for the past hour or so. The enemy is trying to find a weak point in our defenses. We need to withdraw and bolster strength around the camps and the palace."

Kanathia eyes didn't land on him. "If we do that the city will be left undefended."

"There will be no city left to defend if they break through."

Kanathia nodded slowly though she seemed hesitant to do so. "I understand. Order evacuation of the citizens from the sectors we're abandoning. Make it clear that if they stay we can't defend them. Give them an hour. After that order the withdraw."

Sanfirith nodded. He was in awe that a girl who had never known war was acting as a commander would. He set about issuing the evacuation.

**Kanathia: I only went over this chapter once for very obvious errors so I apologize if there are more than usual. Perhaps once life has calmed down a bit more I can re-edit. Alas, at the moment I cannot. It has also come to my attention that the time to 'vote' has come and gone. Being the ever nice person I am I talked Tsubasa Falls out of killing off the character who's lay in the readers hands. I won't say who.**

**Many thanks to those who have left reviews. We read all of them and smile.**

**I was asked to add one last note here and that is that will have between one and two more chapters. Thank you for reading so far and don't forget to review we would appreciate it.**

'**til next time.**

**~Kanathia & Tsubasa Falls**


	12. Chapter 12

** 12: Chapter 11**

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**Tsubasa Falls: The final chapter. Although there will most likely be an epilogue written by Kanathia, but honestly that's more xxxholic than TRC. Well, enjoy the chapter and we hope you like the story.**

After a short meal, throughout which there was a minimum of talking, everyone returned to the large meeting hall where they had originally gathered. Yukito's face was blank but his eyes were giving off emotions akin to betrayal.

Al Cid watched the new additions to the room with interest. "Is there a reason you've more guards now?" he asked eyes lingering on Kurogane's imposing form.

Yukito frowned. "There is." He said simply at first, but he hesitated unwilling to outright decry that his potential ally had stabbed him in the back. Just a few seconds later when it seemed Al Cid was about to question him on it he spoke. "Linwynne was attacked."

Al Cid's guards tensed and as a reply so did Yukito's.

AL Cid frowned. "That is unfortunate. How fares your city?"

Yukito shook his head. "We do not know. We've just received word of the attack."

Al Cid nodded as he studied Yukito's expression. "Do they know who is responsible?"

An uncomfortable pause.

"Cretians then?" Al Cid supplied looking disheartened.

"You knew of the attack?" Yukito asked. His eyes narrowed marginally.

Al Cid nodded. "We heard word of dissenters who planned an attack to ruin these very meetings. We dismissed the claims as we assumed they did not have the numbers nor the artillery readily available. I apologize for not alerting you to the threat."

Yukito assessed that answer for a few moments before a small sigh flew from his lips. "We've far too many enemies. It is as if the world itself hungers for war."

A laugh, and then a genuine smile from Al Cid. "Then we must make haste to thwart her. Our countries have been at war for far too long. My father was not a peaceful man and his supporters, who would have my brother take my place, are many. This treaty is precisely what our war ravaged country needs." He said and the small smile slipped from his lips as spoke next. "That is, if you are still willing to sign it. I can understand hesitation to do so with news of the recent events."

Yukito looked Al Cid in the eyes for none too short a time and then smiled. "I believe the treaty needs to be signed now more than ever."

"And quickly aye?" Al Cid said returning the smile. "So that you may return to your city and deal with this problem."

Many sounds tore through the air; gunfire, explosions, screams. Kanathia tried her best to direct the troupes she was now in control of. Sanfirith never left her side those first few days, but as time dragged on he was needed more and more to direct those on the front lines.

Kanathia slept little. Sakura had to force her to lay down for one or two hour increments just so she would not collapse of exhaustion.

Slowly they were losing ground. They were being forced back, completely overwhelmed by the enemie's fire power even with the mages on their side. It didn't help that half of their 'forces' were civilians. Syaoran was doing his best to protect the bases and constantly running messages between the soldiers and Kanathia as he was faster than most. By the fifth day that had lost half the city, but all had gone silent. Eerily silent.

Scouts watched for any sign of hostility. There had been multiple reports of a boy in strange clothing coming close to firing range and then retreating, it was unnerving really.

"What should we do?" Syaoran asked the gathered group. They were in Kanathia's 'headquarters' which was really just a dignified tent with papers scattered over a salvaged desk.

Kanathia glanced away from everyone. "We need to continue evacuating civilians who can't fight." She said.

"We can do that." Fai said smiling and gesturing a woman and two men he had been running rescue missions with.

Kanathia nodded. "You should hurry. We don't know how long the reprieve from their attacks will last, and…something about the lull is offsetting."

Several others nodded their agreement on the issue. Fai and the three others hustled out of the room heading for the where they knew the refugees would be located.

"I need reports on any place that needs fortified." Kanathia said authoritatively. "Now that we have the time to look through this systematically I need people out there looking at our defenses. We have to hold back the enemy a minimum of two more days before the central army that went with my brother can return. That means this will turn into a test of how long we can hold fort."

People nodded and slowly filtered out to go check what places needed help. Soon the only remaining people were Syaoran, Kanathia, Sakura, and Sanfirith. Sakura bit her lip as Kanathia slowly sank into her chair holding her head. "Where is Hanada?" she asked to no one in particular.

Sanfirith scowled at the name. Sakura looked on Kanathia with sympathy. "When I saw her before coming here she was still in the…" Sakura trailed off.

They had found Creshenth's body the day before. He hadn't been as mangled as the other corpses they had found buried beneath the rubble but he had most certainly been dead. The cause of death was uncertain, but that was mostly because no one really wanted to examine the body that closely. As soon as Hanada had recognized him among the stretches of dead she had taken to sobbing over him as if her tears would change his fate if she just cried hard enough.

Kanathia glanced up at Sakura almost as if to thank her for speaking. "I have a feeling it will become very unsafe very soon." She said standing and moving toward the tent flap. They knew where she was going. She wanted to be by her friend's side more than anything, but rather than comfort her she was going there to try to convince Hanada to leave with the other evacuees.

She stopped just short of where the entrance to the hastily constructed 'morgue' was. It was just rows upon rows of dead bodies lined up as gracefully as possible and covered with magicked sheets. Feeling uncomfortable Sanfirith and Syaoran tapered off to help others leaving the girl to her mourning and task. Sakura stepped forward and rested a reassuring hand on the girl's back. Kanathia nodded and moved in her eyes locking on where she somehow knew Hanada kneeled.

Her feet moved with practiced ease to her friend's side. "Hana." She barely whispered and Hanada's reaction was immediate. She grasped Kanathia's waist as if it were a lifeline. The girl hadn't eaten, or in fact, moved at all since Creshenth had been brought in and the reaction wasn't what Sakura had been expecting. She smiled and watched from a distance unwilling to ruin the moment shared between the two.

Kanathia knelt. "Hana."

Hanada shook her head and bloodshot eyes met unseeing ones. "I know what you're going to say Kana." Hanada said with a voice that was just the slightest bit rough despite all her tears. "But I won't leave. I won't leave you. Not like I did him. Not again." Tears threatened to spill from her eyes again.

"I'm sorry." Was all that Kanathia seemed to be able to get out before the Hanada was hugging her tightly.

"Kanathia!" Sanfirith's voice rang through the area cutting off the moment. "Come quickly!"

Kanathia gazed in his direction and motioned to have a minute then waved for Sakura to come over. "No matter what happens Hana, we have to keep moving. That's the way life works." Kanathia said and then she hugged the girl as she forced her to stand. "There is a time to grieve for the dead, but it's not now. For now, we have to focus on the living."

Then she was gone walking to Sanfirith determinedly. Hanada was left standing there gripping her arm and looking, for all the world, more depressed. Sakura laid light fingers on her arm and gave her an encouraging smile. "Why don't we go find you something to eat?" she said.

"How?" Hanada cut in. "How can she be so…strong? How does she keep moving forward? All I can think of is…"

"I'm sure she doesn't want to be." Sakura said frowning. "I'm sure that right now all that Kana-chan wants is to be miserable, but there are people relying on her. If she stops then more people will die. I think Kana-chan just wants everyone to be happy."

Hanada was staring at her with wide eyes, but it seemed something had clicked in her head.

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Their group was still a day's travel from Linwynne, but they could see the fires in the distance and feel the rumble in the ground as strike after strike landed on Ishilda's capital. Yukito wanted to march on through the night and make it there even the slightest bit earlier, but it was impossible to do so. He had nearly two hundred men with him slowing movement, and to top it off it was absolutely idiotic to go into a battle completely exhausted.

So they had stopped for the night.

Yukito stared at the horizon and bit his lip watching what he knew was his own city's razing. It was beautiful in a deadly way, like watching a fireworks display and knowing it was likely to kill thousands. A cup was shoved roughly into his hands and he felt his guard tense next to him. He turned his eyes to see Kurogane standing before him and a cup of soup now in his hands.

"It won't do anyone any good if you collapse from exhaustion or hunger." Kurogane said plopping down beside Yukito. Yukito waved off his guard's attempt to reprimand the man instead throwing him a small worried smile.

"I understand the logic in that statement, but it does not make it easier to tell my body to act normally." Yukito replied and then took a sip of the soup. "Your friends are also fighting are they not? And if more than half the palace guard was taken out as Seera suggested then they are not on stronger side of this battle. Are you not worried about them?"

Kurogane hardly glanced his way seemingly interested in his own food. "They can take care of themselves…well, most of them can, and the only one who can't has a protector whether she realizes it or not."

"Sakura?"

Kurogane grunted.

"I see." Yukito said and then watched the fires in the distance again. "I suppose I wish I had that same confidence. I fear, however, that this fight will not go well. Something tells me….that we will reach the city too late."

"Too late?" Kurogane said a bit interested in the conversation for the first time. "Are you a seer?"

"A seer…" Yukito tasted the word. "Not precisely. I have feelings sometimes, but never anything precise enough to be labeled a seer. Generally the event has to pass before I even realize what the feeling had been warning me of in the first place."

Kurogane snorted. "Useful."

"Indeed." Yukito said and gave the man a genuinely amused smile.

The assailants were offering a ceasefire on the term of surrender. Kanathia had been appalled. Did they think she would let the city go without a fight? She may not have seen the pitying glances form her men, but she could them on her skin as she had stood there flabbergasted. They made her skin crawl, and then the man had the gall to try and kill her when she had refused. He had been stopped immediately, but she felt no remorse for her order to kill him and send him back to the enemy camp on horseback. It was a clear message to the enemies; a refusal, and also a note that should they offer again they should be prepared to lose another soldier.

Now the explosions had grown worse. Clearly she had struck a fuse. Fighting was moving closer to where the last of the refugees were and she was unsure how she could refrain from losing more ground.

It was only when she tripped and fell that two things struck her. One, she was alone. She couldn't recall where everyone had gone, but the timing was unfortunate as she had also just had an idea. Linwynne was built over a series of cliffs and leveled mountains. If they moved their armies back and widened some of the gulches that naturally ran through the city they could create a more defensible area. After all, it's much easier to stop people from crossing a single bridge than it is to keep them from climbing any number of walls.

Her eyes swept the area desperately. Where had her men gone? Where had Sanfirith gone? She could see the Aura she knew belonged to Hanada nearby. She opened her mouth to call, but Hanada was already moving toward her. Rather fast too. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion. Why was Hanada running? What would call for to-

And then she could hear it. IT was just the slightest rustle of movement behind her, but she knew it was someone running. She twirled utterly confused for half a second before she remembered something, her fight in the forest. When she had fought Syaoran's 'clone' the boy had no Aura. She pushed herself backward away from what she was now sure was a threat.

A loud thump assured her it had been a good decision. Hanada was at her side now and pulling her back. "Syaoran? What the hell are you doing?" Hanada asked her voice in a near panic.

There was no answer from the boy.

"It's not Syaoran." Kanathia said regaining her composure and realizing there was just the faintest bit of an Aura coming from the boy if she concentrated really hard. She was sure a look of understanding was slowly spreading across Hanada face.

"The clone…" she muttered

"I must find the feathers." The boy clone said in a monotone voice. Hanada shivered.

"Feathers?" Kanathia repeated the word confused.

Hanada shifted beside her, and suddenly the courtyard they were in became hell. An explosion rent the air. Rocks and shrapnel flew through the air cutting skin. Hanada was flung from Kanathia. Everything was a jumble of sound and heat and pain.

Xxxxxxx

As Hanada started to regain her senses something that didn't quite fit echoed through the air. She blinked trying to clear her vision and saw people. She blinked again. People with swords and guns were slowly filtering into the area firing on each other or battling with the weapons. She blinked again. She was sure she had a concussion. She couldn't think straight.

She tried to stand, but something was pinning her legs. Then her eyes flew wide and she searched the area desperately. She wasn't sure whether to sigh with relief and become more anxious with what she saw. Kanathia was ducking, and parrying with a sword. She was fighting the 'clone' Syaoran. Hanada efforts to stand were renewed. She was frantic.

Even though her mind supplied the answer readily she couldn't understand why Kanathia's troupes weren't helping her. Of course it was because they too were fighting, but even from here she could see Kanathia slowing. How long had she been fighting for? Minutes? Hours?

Even with the people slowly filtering toward them Kanathia's fight was a fifty yards from anyone else's. Hanada finally managed to shove the rocks from her left leg and grimaced at the sight. Her leg was definitely broken. Blood was everywhere, but that wasn't important right now. She had to…

Everything seemed to slow at that moment. She wasn't sure if it was adrenaline or some kind of cruel magic. Her eyes snapped momentarily to the crowd of soldiers who were apparently on their side as a cheer went up. In that moment she saw the real Syaoran, the one who had been helping them this whole time. Then her eyes traveled back to Kanathia just in time to see that she too had been distracted by the cheer, and because of her slip up something horrible followed.

Hanada felt the horrified scream tear through her chest as a flaming blade plunged into Kanathia's chest. Kanathia froze and stared at the weapon as if she couldn't believe it was there. Her eyes were wide with disbelief and her hands came up like her body told her if she removed the blade all would be well. Before her hands were halfway up the blade was followed by a hand.

Hanada screamed again and began dragging herself forward intent on reaching Kanathia's side and ending this horror. As she approached the hand withdrew covered in gore, but holding something pristine and beautiful. Before Hanada could make it Syaoran did, swinging his sword and causing the clone to jump back. Fire was in the boy's eyes, but also regret, and pity, and massive amounts of guilt.

Hanada was hyperventilating as she touched Kanathia's shoulder. "K-Kana?" she said unsure.

A small rise and fall of the girl's chest and blood gurgled from the wound. "Medic!" Syaoran shouted. "We need a healer! Now!" The clone was gone, but to where did not know nor care.

In the back of her mind Hanada was thankful, but right now all her senses were occupied with the frail girl who was clearly dying in her arms. Kanathia turned her head. It was the first indication that she was still conscious and Hanada was crying. "Kana!" she nearly screamed.

"Ha…na." Kanathia replied but the sound was full of pain and blood was everywhere. Kanathia coughed and Hanada knew she was covered in the stuff, but she didn't care. Eyes flickered open and Hanada was awestruck. Gone was the normal impassive dead look the blind girl's eyes usually had. Instead adoring blue eyes filled with agony examined her.

"Y-your eyes." Hanada said, and she knew it was stupid. Why be concerned with her eyes when the girl was bleeding out.

"The…seal." Kanathia and her words were damn near impossible to hear over the sounds of the battlefield.

"The seal?" Hanada said before realization seemed to hit her. "The power, that was sealed inside of you? He broke the seal?"

Kanathia nodded just slightly. She was studying Hanada's face as she took a gurgling unpleasant and agonizing breath. A smile played on her face.

"K-Kana?" Hanada said and pressed Kanathia hand to her chest as she began to sob in earnest. "Please don't…please don't leave me. I can't lose you. Not another person."

A shaky gore covered hand raised just enough to brush away one of the tears. Hanada looked down and Kanathia gave her a small smile and just shook her head. Then her eyes travelled to Syaoran who had watched all the conversation silently. He nodded just once to let her knew he would do his best for Hanada once the girl was gone. He knew it was too late to save her, or the space time witch would not have let the girl see. After all Kanathia's sight had been payment for the seal, not to keep the object safe.

Hanada looked between the two horrified. "No, no, no, no, no!" she cried hugging Kanathia closer as if she could protect her from death. "You can't, you just can't!"

"Hanada." Kanathia's voice was wavering but Syaoran was surprised she could still talk at all. Kanathia's hand raised again and cupped the younger girl's face.

"Stop Kana, you'll make it worse." She sobbed.

Kanathia shook her head. "I can't…" shuddering breath. "…feel it…I wish…I could have…seen you…smile."

A smile wavered on Kanathia's face. Syaoran could not believe how brave the girl…no…woman, was being in the face of her own death. Kanathia spared one last glance at Syaoran and he could have sworn he saw her mouth the words 'thank you'.

XXXXXxxxxxxxx

The cheer that was to blame for Kanathia's death had gone up in announcement of the arrival of Yukito's forces. In other words the cheer that should have meant the battle was near to being won had resulted in the death of their leader.

No one but Hanada knew exactly how much longer Kanathia held on to life, but it couldn't have much longer. Sakura had approached the two crying her eyes out and offering a private tent away from the eyes of soldiers. After all, Kanathia's command tent was nearly useless. Sanfirith had taken over command and he was doing so from the battle field so as to 'boost troupe morale' which had plummeted upon word of Kanathia's fatal wounding.

Hanada had refused for several hours until for some reason she had started trying to move Kanathia in that direction on her own. It ended with Hanada on the ground in agony still clutching to the now deceased girl. Sakura had run and gotten help and a soldier had had to carry both Hanada and Kanathia at the same time.

Now Hanada was on a table having her legs treated.

Soldiers rushed in and out and gradually the mood began to lighten everywhere, but Hanada and Sakura's corner.

The battle was being won.

Yukito looked on the once proud Linwynne with sad eyes. So his feeling had been right. Not only had half the city been razed to the ground word of Kanathia's death had reached them. As they picked off the last of the resisting forces he found himself thinking more and more on the girl. She had left his life for so long. It was strange that just when she was coming back into it that she would disappear again, but this time permanently.

He felt removed from the event. Not in a cold way, he still felt for his sister, but it was as though the events were happening to someone else. He sighed and commanded his force to raise the city flags declaring their victory. Had there been any significant number of resistance forces left they'd have been enraged by the flags, but the few stragglers they were finding now were more afraid for their live's than anything else.

"You still have it?" Sakura asked in wonder staring at Hanada's mirror. It was a mystery the thing hadn't broken with all that had happened in the last few days.

Hanada nodded solemnly. She hadn't talked much these past few days. Sakura supposed the death of your two best friends could do that to you. "I make sure to always carry it with me. It's valuable, one of a kind."

She set the mirror down and waited a second before tapping the middle with her forefinger. The mirror glowed for a second before fading to show Yuuko's shop. Then a very smug looking Yuuko stepped into view. "Hanada, Princess Sakura, how may I help you?"

Hanada looked slightly pained. Sakura just shook her head, she had nothing to do with the call. In fact, she had tried to talk Hanada out of it. Hanada bit her lip. "Kanathia she-"

Hanada stopped as Yuuko spoke. "You know I cannot." Yuuko said her eyes growing colder as if she greatly resented what she thought the girl was to ask of her. "You know I cannot bring back the dead. The thread of passage of life flows one way and she has already gone."

Hanada shook her head. "I wasn't…not that I didn't think about it…I just…"

Yuuko seemed to lose the cold glare and she smiled lightly. "If that's not why you called then why did you?"

"Well, Kana, when she…when she was…right before…" she looked up with desperate eyes pleading with them not to make her finish the sentence. Yuuko nodded. "Well she…she could see again. I was wondering if you…"

"If I had anything to do with the contract breaking?" Yuuko supplied.

Hanada nodded head down.

Yuuko smiled and this time Sakura saw warmth there. "Seals work in mysterious ways. Sometimes after their creation they store power they were not meant to, and when they are broken sometimes that power does things that are…unexpected."

"Unexpected?" Hanada said frowning. "Are you trying to say…you had nothing to do with Kana being able to see?"

"Perhaps."

Hanada faltered for half a second and then she smiled. "Thank you."

Yuuko smiled. "Ah, but who is to say I am responsible?"

Hanada smiled again this time with a little more warmth. There was little happiness there, but that there was any at all was surprising. "Still, I will believe what I want to. You've always been kind Yuuko, even if you cannot show it the way a normal person can."

Yuuko looked amused by the notion that she held kindness. A bell chimed and an oddly familiar voice sounded in the background that made Hanada want to start crying again. "It seems I have a customer."

Hanada nodded. "Goodbye, for now, then."

Yukito stood before the waiting crowd. On the platform beside him were several people who would be receiving medals and honors for helping Ishilda in its time of need. He smiled over them Closest to him was Hanada who was fiddling with her crutch. He turned back to the crowd.

"People of Linwynne. People of Ishilda. I bring good and bad news to be heard on this day."

The crowd grew silent. Many knew what the bad news was already and they knew it was the most depressing of stories.

"Over the last week we have lost much. We have lost homes, businesses, security, but most importantly we have lost loved ones. Soldiers and civilians alike fell before the blades of rabble rousers and would be usurpers. As I'm sure you have all heard by now, I, myself, lost my dearest sister Kanathia."

He paused closing his eyes and giving a moment to honor the dead.

"Mourn not for the dead. They have passed life's trials. It is for the living we must push forward. We must look to what this horrid battle has gained us. It has gained us allies. It has gained us perspective. It has gained us support, and it has gained us friends."

A small cheer from the crowd went up then quieted down.

"It is true we most likely could have gained some of these things without bloodshed, but rather than dwell on what might have happened we need to push forward with what has. These opportunities gained should not be wasted.

We have now entered into a treaty with Creta. We now have a diplomat from Hoenda, a country which we have never had the opportunity to speak with. And we have found loyalty.

Let us pave the way to tomorrow with these new bonds. Let us not shirk the duty we owe to those who have died either. We must make a tomorrow of peace so that we may make them proud."

"A bit idealistic, but his heart's in the right place." Fai said smiling as the group reunited near the reconstructing palace.

"I believe he will make great strides in bringing our countries together." Hanada said giving just the faintest smile. "I suppose you will all be leaving soon?"

Syaoran nodded. "We will as soon as Mokona's ready. I'm sorry we're leaving so soon."

Hanada shook her head. "You've done a lot. Ishilda…no I…and Kanathia…we both owe you so much. All of you."

Sakura hugged Hanada. "You'll make a good diplomat Hana-chan."

Kurogane grunted which Hanada decided to take as him agreeing.

"I hope we meet again someday." Hanada said.

"MOKONA MODOKI READY TO GO!" Mokona said popping up and down on Kurogane's shoulders.

Syaoran smiled. "Maybe by then you'll have learned to smile again. Like you used to. I'm sure that's what Kanathia would have wanted."

And with that the group was swallowed and transported away from the girl who had begun to sob and laugh as she waved them farewell.

**Kanathia: So, the end. Was it surprising? I did my best on the fight scene, but honestly I don't think I'm great with them. I'll be posting the epilogue eventually.**

**Tsubasa Falls: We enjoyed writing this, and we hope you enjoyed reading it just as much!**

**Kanathia: Drop a review even if you're reading this story three years after we posted this. I like getting them, and sometimes they give me ideas for new fics.**

**Tsubasa Falls &Kanathia : We hope you liked it! Keep watching for the epilogue! 'Til next time!**

**~Kanathia & Tsubasa Falls**


	13. Chapter 13

** 13: Epilogue**

**This was written solely by Kanathia, but she allowed me to post it as well. **

* * *

**Kanathia: An epilogue for the story. Enjoy.**

**XXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Yuuko Ichihara reclined on her porch as she was apt to do on hot summer days. Maru and Moro were trouncing around entertaining Mokona for the most part while Watanuki prepared mochi for Yuuko as she had requested, despite his quite numerous complaints.

"Yuuko how much of this did you want me to make? I've been in there for hours and every time you wander in you say it's not enough." Watanuki inserted yet again.

Yuuko leaned back lazily in her chair dragging in a breath of smoke. "We'll have a guest soon. You wouldn't want to be a rude host and not have snacks would you?"

"A guest…who would…? Wait! A guest? As in one person? There's enough mochi in there to feed twenty people!" Watanuki said with his normal dramatic posturing.

Yuuko smirked, but didn't comment.

"You just wanted it for yourself didn't you!" Watanuki accused which garnered a look of fake hurt from Yuuko.

"Why Watanuki of course I don't…ah…" a bell chimed once before going silent. "It seems our guest has arrived."

Watanuki was already making his way toward the front door. "Ah…you?" he said as his eyes fell upon the girl standing there. She raised her eyes at his question.

"I'm glad you could make it." Yuuko said stepping up behind him now wearing one of her more ornate kimonos. When she had had time to change Watanuki had no idea. "Though I suppose it was to be expected."

The girl smiled sweetly. "It is nice to see you again after all this time." She said. "I had nearly forgotten what you look like."

Yuuko laughed. "Well, come in princess. Watanuki has made mochi especially for your arrival."

Yuuko led her to a sitting room with a small table and gestured for her to take one side while she took the other. "You are here because you have a wish." Yuuko said pouring sake the moment Watanuki had brought it to the table. "It is difficult to grant wishes of those who are in the state you are Kanathia."

Kanathia nodded. "Death is not easily overcome. Even for someone such as you." There was a glint in her eye as she tilted her head toward Yuuko that suggested she knew more about that than she was letting on. "Still, it is nice to be able to see again, even if only for this short time."

Yuuko nodded. "When you were stabbed the seal broke because it was guaranteed to last only as long as the feather was safe." She said with a smile.

"I know you ended it early. It could technically have stayed until my death. You gave me a chance to see Hana, and for that I am grateful." Kanathia said and bowed her head a little.

"The exchange was equal. If I did not think it was I could not have done it." Yuuko said a bit harshly though Kanathia could tell that she was only trying to reassure herself lest she be convinced otherwise. "Your current wish?"

"For which you have already received payment." Kanathia said to remind her.

Yuuko nodded. "Indeed, and a high price you did pay."

"I want them to be happy. My brother, Hana, and those children."

Yuuko smiled. "It seems many people have placed their hopes in those children as of late."

Kanathia nodded. "My wish?"

"Shall be granted. Though I must say for a simple increase in fortune you've overpaid." Yuuko frowned.

"Then another wish." Kanathia said with a smile.

Yuuko looked a bit surprised. "Another?"

Kanathia nodded. "Help them Yuuko."

For the first time since she'd met the dimension witch the woman looked truly surprised. "Help them?"

"I grew up in a palace Yuuko. I was always very good at reading people's hidden meanings. You are bound by the rules of your shop. You cannot intervene in their story for free, but that does not mean you do not wish to. A price must be paid, and I have paid one. A wish must be made before you can act and now one has."

Yuuko looked startled by this small speech and nearly dropped her glass as Watanuki entered the room to give them the mochi.

"Thank you." Kanathia said as he set the platter down. "It looks delicious."

"You're welcome." He said with a smile. "I'm glad someone's appreciative." He proceeded to glare daggers at Yuuko who looked wholly amused. As he exited the room Yuuko began to speak again.

"Soon the day when 'time moves forward again' shall come. When it does I will no longer be able to help them." Her gaze had settled somewhere just beyond Kanathia's right ear before finally coming down to meet her eyes. "You and I aren't so different."

Kanathia shook her head. "Perhaps not, but until that time comes you can help them. That's what matters Yuuko. I know you want to help the boy."

"The boy?"

"Watanuki."

Yuuko looked down at her cup. "Even so, there's not much I can do. What he needs must be learned through experience. Not even your wish can change that."

"You're doing enough Yuuko. Being here, having you, I think those things have helped him. Much like Hana and Creshenth helped me in Hoenda. The world becomes bearable when there is someone to relax around."

Yuuko laughed. "I suppose. Though I doubt he sees it that way."

Kanathia smiled. "It's nearly time isn't it?"

Yuuko looked to the moon. "It is."

"I suppose this means I'll be seeing Creshenth again."

"Indeed."

"Yuuko."

The older woman looked down at the sound of her name to find all traces of joking gone from Kanathia's eyes.

"The 'day when time moves forward once more', that day you-"

Yuuko smiled holding up her finger to silence the girl.

"I know what you will say." She said swinging her legs to the side and motioning for Kanathia to follow her as she stood. "And the answer is yes. It is the day I died."

Kanathia nodded. "When that day comes, and time moves forward again I'll be waiting."

Yuuko glanced down with a smile. "You seem sure of how it will happen."

"I have faith in them. They're strong."

"Then it's a date. On the other side?"

"On the other side." Kanathia conceded. "I suppose it's time then."

She stepped out of the paper door on one side of the room and into the streaming moonlight. She turned just enough to see Watanuki enter the room and waved before she disappeared.

"What the-?" Watanuki said dropping the tray he was holding which was thankfully empty.

"It was time for her to cross over." Yuuko said staring at the fallen tray as though he had dropped a piece of expensive china.

"You mean she was-"

"Dead? Yes. You didn't notice?"

Watanuki shook his head.

"Right. Well, you know what this means don't you?" she said deadpan.

Watanuki turned to her a bit stunned.

"We break out the expensive liquor!" She said with a huge grin.

**Kanathia: That's it for the epilogue. Rather short I know. I had fun writing this with TsubasaFalls and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. I've been wanting to write this since I read the end of Xxxholic nearly a year ago. I hope it turned out well. Thanks for all the reviews and we hope to see even more. Well, 'til next time!**

**~Kanathia**


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